The Golden Millennium
by BeastSage09
Summary: Someone else captured the hearts of the moon princess and the other scouts. Watch as he leads them into a better tomorrow. OC/Senshi harem
1. Chapter 1

**Heart of the Sun**

The Silver Millennium, very few people now of its existence, and fewer still know the full story. What is known was that during this time period, all the planets in the solar system were home to their own unique kingdoms. Even the sun itself was populated. The leaders of these kingdoms answered to the royal family of the moon kingdom, ruled by Queen Serenity. But, as prosperous as it was, the silver millennium wasn't without those who would see it either destroyed or dominated in their name.

Knowing this, the Queen took every single precaution she could think of to protect herself, her kingdom, and her daughter, Princess Serena. She had alliances with all the other planets except Earth, had the other planets princesses trained as warriors, and had her royal guards sent through rigorous training regiments. One day, she was approached by the kingdoms of the Earth and the Sun, offering their young princes services in exchange for an alliance. She accepted them both, and assigned them with different duties.

Endymion, the prince of Earth, was to be Serena's future husband, while Solaris, the Sun prince, was to be her personal bodyguard. But something happened that no one, not even the Queen herself, had expected. As the years went by, Serena and her bodyguards, dubbed by the kingdoms as the Sailor Scouts, had each become infatuated with Solaris. At first, Solaris thought it was just a joke, blinded by both skepticism and his personal sense of duty. But, one day, during a formal tournament held by the royal family, a series of events was set into motion that would change the course of history. And it all started with a simple dare between a princess and her bodyguard.

"Surely, you can't be serious your majesty. Expecting me to enter this tournament, and knowing full well that the winner is to be your future husband. I was sent here to protect you, Endymion is supposed to fill the role of husband. Besides, look at me, no matter how hard I train or how often I work out, I never seem to lose any weight. What girl in her right mind would possibly want someone like me?" Seeing that this approach was going nowhere, Serena switched tactics. "Solaris, as Princess of the moon and your superior, I hereby order you to enter and win this tournament. Failure to do so will result in your immediate banishment from this kingdom." Although he was initially shocked that Serena would say such a thing, he reluctantly complied, not wanting to bring shame to his family or be forced to leave his home of the past 8 years. He turned and left, and then Serena turned to her other friends. The princess of Mars decided to speak the words on everyone's mind.

"Don't you think that was a bit harsh, your majesty?" Serena simply giggled and said, "Nonsense, Mars. Besides, aren't we all after the same thing?" All the Scouts blushed at her statement. "Oh, don't play dumb. I know you all love him just as much as me, so I say why not share him?" The Princess of Mercury spoke next. "But, what if he doesn't win?" "He'll win. He won't risk the chance of being kicked out of the palace." So, he did enter, and round after round he somehow came out on top, using his strategic mind, incredible physical prowess, and powerful elemental magic spells mixed with a bit of his own personal trademark, powerful alchemy.

The final round came with thunderous cheer, as Solaris, going under the alias of "The Masked Star", stood on the field facing his opponent, Prince Endymion. No words were said between the two, only the sound of the roaring crowd and the sliding of metal as Endymion drew his sword. Solaris, too, drew his weapon, an 8 foot bow-staff covered in alchemical symbols and magic runes. The fight was long and intense, both combatants fighting with everything they had until, with one final clash that kicked up a vast cloud of dust, a victor was decided. When the dust settled, standing there covered in dried blood, scratches, and bruises, stood Solaris, leaning on his staff for support over an equally wounded yet defeated Endymion. The crowd cheered as Serena let out a breath of relief she didn't realize she was holding.

The Queen stood from her seat, raised her hand to quiet the crowd, and said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, I give you the winner of the tournament, the dark horse Masked Star." Sadly before more could be said, Beryl, commander of the evil negaverse, chose to make her presence known. The chaos that followed has been shrouded in mystery, but one thing remains true, the battle that followed marked the end of the Silver Millennium. To protect her daughter and her subjects, using the power of the silver crystal, a source of immense power, Queen Serenity sent there spirits to be reborn on earth, but Solaris wasn't so lucky. In an effort to buy the queen some time, he stood before the massive, twisted hoard of the negaverse, blocking the way and slaughtering any monster that got too close. Despite his efforts, the strain from the tournament finally caught up with him, and a fatal blow was struck whilst he tried to recover.

Solaris looked to the skies, seeing the spirits of so many people drift towards Earth. He felt the eyes of the princess and the scouts upon him as they drifted away, watching him as he died and their hearts wept greatly for him. He then realized that their love for him wasn't a joke, and with the last of his strength, shouted to the heavens. "PRINCESSES, I APOLOGIZE FOR BEING UNABLE TO RETURN YOUR LOVE. I WILL FIND YOU ALL AGAIN, NO MATTER HOW MANY TIMES THE WHEEL OF REINCARNATION MUST TURN, NO MATTER HOW MANY LIFETIMES IT TAKES, AND I WILL SEE TO IT THAT YOUR LOVE IS RETURNED A THOUSAND TIMES OVER. ON MY HONOR AND THE BLOOD THAT FLOWS WITHIN MY VIENS I SWEAR IT!" Then, with one last shout, he started to glow gold before a massive explosion propelled his spirit towards Earth and engulfed a vast portion of the negaverse army, and with that he saw no more.

We now jump ahead to the present, where we see a fourteen year old boy in the office of a psychologist discussing his most recent problems. Since he was five he's been having a series of vivid dreams. His parents, both presidents of two multi-billion dollar industries, were growing worried. At first they were dismissed as the imagination of a young boy, but they continued and started to affect his daily life. It got so bad that he was seeing images of various monsters and passing out in school. His most resent addition to his growing list of problems was his mysterious obsession with a recently emerged super heroine named Sailor V, stating that he somehow knew her in a very close manner. Prior to this visit, he had recently heard a rumor that Sailor V was heading to Japan, more specifically the Juuban district of Tokyo.

"And that was when I woke up, covered in a cold sweat and feeling sore all over. I tried to go back to sleep, but all I could do was toss and turn, somehow feeling that I had to find Sailor V. Between the dreams, the hallucinations, the bouts of unconsciousness and now this, I feel like I'm going bat shit insane." The boy, who was named Thedon, started to break down in tears as he finished. As he lay there, trying to collect himself, his parents and doctor discussed a possible course of action, but no matter what they thought of, it all went back to one thought, going to Juuban and confronting Sailor V. So that's what they decided to do.

After making the necessary arrangements, they packed up and flew to Tokyo, first class. A few days later, everyone was settling in and learning the lay of the land. Thedon took this opportunity to have a stroll around the local shopping district. Looking around, he saw a group of kids tormenting a cat. He was about to step in and stop them when a girl about his age with blonde hair in what the locals called an odango style did so. Seeing this, he smiled to himself and was about to walk off when she started panicking about being late to school, which caused him to sweat drop. Moving on, he continued his walk until he came to a café. He sat down, ordered some food, and ran all that happened so far through his head. His thoughts eventually came back to that girl he saw.

'I wonder what she's doing right now.' As he thought that, she came into view, accompanied be another girl with red hair. He watched them as they want into a jewelry store that seemed to be having a very good business day. As they went in, his food came and he started eating. As he ate, he thought to himself, 'I don't know what it is, but there's something about that girl that seems familiar.' He finished, paid his check, and made his way over to the jewelry store. 'Hmm, there's something about this place that seems, off. I don't know why, but I feel like whatever is happening in there isn't kosher.'

His thoughts were interrupted as a ball of paper hit his head. Seeing the blonde girl he assumed it belonged to her. "Hey, you." She turned around. "Yes, you. Watch here you're throwing your trash." On a whim, he un-crumbled the paper and saw that it was a test, and a pretty poor one if the grade was right. She dashed over and made a grab for the paper, yanking it out of her hands. "Don't go looking at things that don't belong to you." She said like a spoiled child. "I wouldn't be caught dead in my grave with such a low score. Are you stupid or just plain lazy?" She then responded with, "That's none of your business." and stormed off. He stood there as she left, thinking to himself. 'I don't know why, but there's something about her that I just can't ignore.' He absently noted a black cat following her, then turned and left.

He continued to wander aimlessly without fear of getting lost, yet he still couldn't get his mind of that girl, Serena Tsukino if he read the name right. He looked over and saw Serena admiring a poster advertising the latest Sailor V video game. 'Odd, not very often you come across a girl that enjoys video games.' He watched as she seemed to monologue to herself before sulking and leaving. When she was gone, Thedon checked his watch. Seeing that it was getting late, he made his way back home, only to stop a see something strange as all the customers in the jewelry store started fainting one after the other. He watched as the red head approached an older woman, presumably her mother, only to see her back away as her face morphed into a malicious grin.

"Mom, what's going on, what's happening?"

"I'm not your mother, little girl." The woman then started choking the girl as she changed into a monster that resembled an old hag in a black dress and a scar on her forehead. "Sweet mother of all that's holy, what the hell is happening around here?" Thedon whispered to himself. He debated within himself as to whether or not to interfere, but he knew that he would never be able to live with himself if he just let this happen. So, he screwed up his courage, charged forward and blew through the doors, plowing head long into the monster.

Morga was getting tired of this planet. She only came here to collect life energy from these pathetic humans to take back to here master. Her plan was to siphon the energy out of a vast number of people by absorbing it with special jewelry, which they were only too happy to have. Then, this annoying little girl starts interfering, and now she has another problem. She was about to finish off the girl when something heavy slammed into her from the side. Landing hard on the ground, she looked up to see a human boy lying on top of her.

"I don't know who you are, but you just made a big mistake." She said with a voice laced with malice.

"And I don't care WHAT you are, but I'm not letting you kill this girl for whatever reason you may have in your disgusting, misshapen head." The boy finished by hocking a lugi in her face. Thedon braced himself as the monster threw him off of her, slamming his back into a wall as the abomination before him charged at him.

"I was going to save you for later, but now I've changed my mind. You will be the first to die at the hands of the negaverse, and your body shall serve as the paving stone to the destruction of your race and this planet."

Morga then started to choke him while laughing in triumph until another voice made itself heard.

"Let him go," Morga's head turned a full one hundred and eighty degrees to face the new comer. "I said let him go."

"And who are you to tell me what to do?"

"I'm Sailor Moon, champion of justice, and on behalf of the moon, I vow to right wrong and triumph over evil, and that means you."

Thedon could feel his heart racing as he saw this girl, as if he was in love with her. Morga released him and turned away, allowing him to take cover behind a checkout counter. 'This, this is insane. People fainting in broad daylight, women turning into murdering monsters, and now this girl who looks just like the one in my dreams shows up, if this is a nightmare please someone just wake me up and end this madness' He then looked down and saw the same black cat that followed Serena looking up at him. "You, what are you doing here? Get out of here now before that monster turns you into dog meat."

"I most certainly will not."

Thedon could feel and hear the gears in his head grinding to a halt and springs snapping as he tried to process the fact that he had just heard a cat talk. "Okay, note to self: Tell Mom and Dad to back off on the sleeping medicine."

The cat then spoke again. "This is certainly not a dream and you aren't going crazy. That girl out there is Sailor Moon, and she will need your help."

"What help could I possibly give, I'm just a normal human with a weight problem. I can't fight something that clearly shouldn't exist."

"No, you are anything but normal. I can sense it; there is a vast power that sleeps within you. You must use it to protect Sailor Moon. Like it or not, your destinies are linked."

Thedon felt like he was having a panic attack. He was in a shop, with a monster that had no qualms about killing, a supposed super-hero that he had to protect, and a talking cat that says he has incredible power within himself. If he wasn't so paralyzed with fear right now, he would start laughing in madness. He was snapped out of his thoughts by Sailor Moons voice.

"I don't want to play this game anymore. I want to go home." She then started crying, which seemed to set something of within him, and somehow found himself charging through the zombie-like crowd to her side. He stood protectively in front of her, rage burning in his eyes like a roaring inferno. Morga was momentarily stunned by this. "So, you think you can protect her, a crybaby of a hero who can't fight being protected by a weakling of a human?" The last part full of amusement.

"Shut your garbage spewing mouth you shrew. You enslaved innocent people, attempted to kill a girl, and made this beautiful young woman cry." Serena blushed lightly at the last part. "The wheel of life in the sky has come full circle. For eons I have slumbered in the either of the abyss, awaiting my chance to rise again. And like a glorious phoenix I shall rise and ensure that love is fulfilled." Morga started laughing as he finished.

"A very passionate speech, but useless all the same. When Queen Beryl finally wakes, all life on this planet and the entire universe shall cease to exist, and you shall be nothing but dust."

"Not in this life or the next, not while blood still runs through my veins and my lungs still draw breath. RISE O HEART OF THE SUN, AND CLEANSE THIS SHADOW FROM THIS MORTAL PLAIN!"

A brilliant flash of golden light filled the eyes of all present, and when it cleared, Thedon stood there in shining blood red Spartan style armor with an 8 foot bow-staff in his right hand. "I am the guarding light, the beacon in the night that guides those lost in the darkness. My spirit is a shield, my heart is a sword, my mind is the spear that pierces ignorance, I am the Masked Star, and you shall not touch her again."

Morga was about to attack again when a rose caught everyone's attention. She looked over and demanded, "Now just who might you be?" A young man in a tuxedo, black cape, top hat, and a white mask made himself known. "I am Tuxedo Mask. Masked Star, you know you can't always coddle her. She must fight her own battles; learn to find the warrior within her heart."

"Do not lecture me, tuxedo boy. Her battles are my battles, and I will not fail her again!" Thedon charged at Morga with a speed that seemed out of place for someone like him and started attacking with all the rage he could muster. Morga was now on the defensive, dodging or blocking as much as possible and attacking just as often.

"Is that all you can do, wave that stick around like some monkey? You will die and your energy shall fuel the rise of the negaverse."

Thedon jumped away and rummaged around in a pouch tied to his waste. "Not even close, Youma scum. FIRE COIN ATTACK!" He threw what looked like a handful of change at her, which then burst into flames, burning Morga but not the building. Thedon then turned to Sailor Moon. "Sailor Moon, as much as I would like to finish this battle I cannot, for that is your place. Look deep within yourself, find the strength the sleeps within your heart, and unleash the warrior inside." He then turned back to continue his battle with Morga.

"He is right, Sailor Moon. It is your duty to defeat the forces of evil that threaten the universe." Serena then looked at Luna the cat. "But I don't want to be a warrior." She started crying loudly, which not only spurred Thedon on, but released a powerful sound wave that knocked out the hypnotized people and stunned Morga.

"Aaaahhhhh, stop that hideous crying." "Hold your rotting tongue before I rip it out and shove it down your throat."

Luna then said, "Quick, while she's distracted throw your tiara at her and say 'Moon Tiara Magic'."

"But what good will that do?" "Just do it!" "Okay, here goes. MOON TIARA MAGIC!" Her tiara became a glow disc of light which she hurled towards Morga. Thedon simply smiled and said, "Looks like the reaper has come for you." He jumped aside as the disc hit Morga who screamed in pain before saying, "I shall return!" before she fell and became a pile of dust.

In the negaverse, a place of hatred and darkness, a man with short blonde hair watched in dismay as the growing orb of life energy in his hands suddenly disappeared. "What? The energy! Someone will pay dearly for this."

Back on Earth, Serena stared in wonder as she thought, 'Did I do that?' whilst Morga disintegrated. The voice of Tuxedo Mask drew here attention, "Well done Sailor Moon. Mollies Mother and the other women are freed. Others will test you but do not be afraid. I shall fight with you." And like that, he was gone. "Sailor Moon," said Masked Star, "though you may not remember it now I took a vow to keep you safe, and come hell or high water that I shall do. Know that I am always watching you protecting you from the shadows. Even if you cannot see me, know that I am your shield." And he too was gone, only this time in a flash of gold light. Sailor Moon just stood there, staring at the spot where Masked Star stood one second ago with a blush on her face.

Getting concerned, Luna approached her and asked, "Sailor Moon, what happened? Is everything alright?" She responded with, "What a dreamy guy."

The next morning, Serena was in class trying to take a nap. I say trying because her friend Molly was talking with some other girls about last night, only they thought it was a dream. This want on for several more minutes before their teacher came in. "Alright everyone, sit down please. Now, today we have a new student joining us. He's new to Tokyo and is the son of two well known families, but due to some unforeseen complications, he was held back for a few years." Everyone, including Serena was paying close attention now. "I want all to make him feel welcome while he settles in. Class, please say hello to Thedon Giscard."

Thedon walked in and introduced himself. "Hi, as you all know I'm Thedon Giscard. I hope to get along with everyone in the coming months." He paused and gave a quick bow. "Nice to have you with us Mister Giscard. Now let's have you sit….next to Miss Tsukino. Hopefully your presence will help her get ahead in my class." Serena raised her head at the mention of her name.

"Say, you're the girl that threw that garbage test at me." Serena stiffened at the accusation, afraid of what might happen next. "It's so nice to finally make your acquaintance in person, rather then reading it off of a piece of paper. You really should pay attention where you throw your trash. I look forward to knowing you better." Something about his words scared and comforted her at the same time for some reason. She was happy knowing that a cute guy was sitting next to her, but she was scared that she had made another powerful enemy besides the negaverse.


	2. Chapter 2

**Midnight Madness**

Several days have gone by since Thedon Giscard came to Tokyo with his family, searching for answers to questions that were raised by his dreams. So far, he seemed to stumble upon a breakthrough when, while on his way home from a day of walking the streets, he saw what could only be described as a monster attempting to kill a girl. He charged in like a reckless idiot and found himself in the middle of something bigger then life itself. That night, he learned of someplace called the Negaverse, met a talking cat and a magical girl, and discovered a great power sleeping within him.

We now join young Thedon as he wakes up for another day at his new school. After taking care of the usual morning routine, he got dressed and went downstairs for breakfast. His parents, being CEO's at two very successful companies, had bought what they considered a small mansion near the Juuban district, which had more rooms then they had a use for. He looked around and saw the various maids and butlers going about their assigned duties of keeping the home in livable condition. His father, Nathan Giscard, ran a very successful string of confection stores and factories, creating unique sweets and chocolates for the masses. His mother, Julie Giscard, inherited a failing shipping company from a relative, which she turned around and made into a world-wide household name.

"Morning Mom, morning Dad," he said through a yawn. "Morning son, sleep well?" 

"I slept fine, if you over-look the periodic sneezing fits that kept me up until 2 A.M." His father simply chuckled. "It must have been the new radio show, the Midnight Love Line. You did seem to leave quite an impression with the girls at school."

"Well, I hate to disappoint them, but they had better knock it off before something happens." His mother decided to make her opinion known. "Now honey, there's nothing wrong with being popular with girls. It gives you more to choose from when you finally get yourself a girlfriend."

Thedon groaned at that statement. "Mom, how many times do I have say this? I'm not even touching that subject with a 10 mile pole until I sort these dreams out. No girl could possibly want a guy with so much emotional baggage."

"I know that dear, but it's always good to keep your options open. What about that Tsukino girl from your class? She seems pretty promising." Thedon, who at that point had been taking a drink of water, abruptly spit it out while trying to regain his breath. Serena and Thedon had developed a, rocky friendship since that night at the jewelry store.

"Mom, she's just a friend, nothing more, nothing less."

Nathan spoke this time. "I don't know, son. You were out pretty late when you met her. Speaking of, you still haven't explained what happened that night."

Thedon started getting nervous. He hadn't told his parents about the events of that night, only saying much to their consternation and confusion, "Shit happened, and cut back on the sleeping meds, please." He wasn't sure how they would take it if they found out about his recently discovered powers. At best, they would check and see that he hadn't overdosed his medication, and at worst, they would throw him out of the family, calling him crazy all the while.

"You don't need to worry about that now, Dad. I'll discuss it when I'm ready and not a moment sooner. Now if you'll excuse me, I have to get to school." With that, he left. His parents looked back at each other. "Sometimes, I wonder what's really going on with him," said his mother.

We now join Thedon as he walks to school, having become fond of walking the streets of Juuban. He passes by what looks like an arcade, where he spots Serena wearing her hands out on a Sailor V game. 'I swear, the girl would forget her own head if it wasn't attached to her body.' Sighing in resignation, he makes his way toward her. "Serena, what are you doing?" Serena looked up from her game. "I would think that was obvious. I'm playing a Sailor V game."

"That much I can see. What I mean is, why are you doing this, when you should be on your way to school?"

"Lighten up, will you? There's plenty of time before the first bell."

"So you consider 2 minutes to be "plenty" of time to make it to school and not get detention for tardiness?" Serena's eyes widened at that question, and after a few seconds of panicking, sprinted out of the building like death was on her heels. Thedon simply chuckled as the dust cloud she kicked up dissipated. 'And so the chase begins again.' "Well, as they say, "Tally Ho"," before he himself left.

Serena and Thedon, despite small timeframe, made it before the first bell, only to find that the teacher, Ms. Haruna, didn't come in yet. After several minutes of whispered and mental complaints, she finally came in, only she looked like she hadn't slept in days. Thedon did note the pendent attached to her outfit, which was giving him an odd feeling. After drowsily taking attendance and issuing an assignment, she fell asleep at her desk.

Luna was walking down the street, thinking about what has happened. 'Honestly, I come here to find the champion of love and justice, and here I find out she's a lazy crybaby. The galaxy must be playing some cruel joke on me. But still, that other person, he was unexpected.' She watched as an ambulance drove by her, noting that it was heading towards the school.

Miss Haruna was carried out of the school, still asleep, while her entire class watched the whole thing. While Serena talked with her friend Molly, Thedon watched in silence while deep in thought. 'Yet again with the weirdness. Still, something about this seems disturbingly familiar.'

Several hours later and we find Serena and Thedon heading home after being dismissed early. Serena was talking with Molly about the Love Line radio program, while Thedon was walking a short ways behind them in silence. He watched as Serena bumped into a high school boy. He didn't hear exactly what was said between them, but it seemed to be antagonistic in nature. "Serena," she stopped acting childish to look at Thedon, "I don't know about you, but I'm going to conduct a little investigation into this Love Line program. Something about this whole thing seems off." Without waiting for a response, he made his way home.

"Welcome home, sir." Thedon was greeted by one of the many servants that tended to the property. "Thank you, Sheldon. Are my parent's home? A have a few questions to ask them." "I'm sorry, sir, but they left half an hour ago. Said they were going to have a talk with the directors of the radio station that broadcasts that Love Line program about toning done the frequency of letters being read that were addressed to you. But they should be back any time now." Ironically, said parents walked in 2 minutes later. "Ah, sir and madam, welcome back." "Thank you, Sheldon. Welcome home son." "Hey Mom, Dad, Sheldon told me you were going to the radio station. How did that go?" "It's the strangest thing, son. We made it in and confronted the owner, but he said there was no such program on their rosters. He even said that there wasn't anyone here at midnight except for the cleaning staff. We also saw your friend Serena trying to get in to deliver a love letter of her own, except she was promptly turned away by the guard." "Well, thanks for trying anyway; I'll be in my room."

Once again Thedon was on his way to school after yet another night of sneezing fits, thinking about what his parents told him last night. He passed the arcade and saw that Serena wasn't there, so he continued on. After getting to class, he noticed a large commotion going on. He approached Melvin, a boy with thick glasses. "Hey, Melvin, what's all this about?" "It's the strangest thing, Molly was showing off a pendent she got for mailing in a letter to Love Line when she went from wide awake to drowsy then sleeping within five minutes of putting it on. Serena tried to wake her only to fall asleep herself not to long after. And the pendent looked exactly like the one Miss Haruna was wearing yesterday." "Thanks, man, where are they now?" "A couple of students took them to the nurse's office." "Thanks again, Melvin." With that, he made his way to the nurse's office.

He was about to go in when he heard two voices inside, one he knew was Serena's, but the other one sounded oddly similar to that talking cat. Curious, he quietly opened the door and peaked inside. There was Serena, standing over Molly with the black cat, Luna talking to her. He heard the entire discussion, thus confirming his suspicions. 'I knew it, I thought this whole thing stunk of Negaverse filth.' He was brought out of his thoughts by Serena's footsteps. He tried to move but he wasn't fast enough, and as a result, Serena walked right into him, causing them to land in what some would consider a rather suggestive position with Serena lying rather comfortably on top of Thedon.

They stared at each other for several minutes with a light blush on both of their faces before shooting apart. After a few awkward moments, Thedon spoke up. "So, I take your feeling better?" "Sort of, yeah." "Well, I just came to check on you. Coincidently, I won't speak about this if you won't." "Agreed." And with that, the day continued like normal.

It was late at night when Thedon got home. After making sure his parents were sound asleep, he took out a small, portable radio and tuned it to the station that broadcast Love Line. Like clockwork, at exactly midnight the program came on. Now knowing that something was happening, he snuck out of the mansion and made his way to the radio station. He was about five minutes away when a new voice came over the radio which sounded strangely like Serena. After a few accusations, he could hear a high-pitched laughter and a series of explosions.

'Oh shit, this is getting dangerous. I need to do something.' 'Perhaps I can be of some assistance.' Thedon stopped abruptly. "Who's there? Show yourself."

'I'm in your head. I am you as you are me. In our past life I was known as Solaris, prince of the Sun and the personal bodyguard of the moon princess and her inner circle.'

'Well that's all well and good, but I really don't have time for this.'

'I know, it sounds like that pretty friend of yours is in trouble, which is why I'm going to help you.'

'And how exactly are you going to do that?'

'I'm going to give you the knowledge of one of our many past lives, along with the abilities they had in life. Mind you, you won't have perfect control over said abilities right away. It will take a whole lot of training to do that.'

'Well thanks, I guess, but could you be quick about it, please? We don't have much time.'

'Understood, here it goes.'

Thedon felt nothing at first, then slight pain which slowly grew into a full-blown migraine. After 2 minutes of pain, it stopped. He felt uneasy on his feet as the new information was filtered into his had and properly stored. It was a full 5 minutes later before he regained his balance. He decided to test out his new abilities, and with but a thought of 'Soru', found himself running at a blinding speed, his feet hitting the ground ten times every second.

The radio station was coming into his view when he saw the disk of light impact on the form of another monstrous old woman and cut her in half. Sensing the fight wasn't over, he transformed into Masked Star before trying another of his abilities. 'Geppou.' He stopped running and jumped up, then by seemingly kicking off of the air itself, propelled himself higher, and continued to do so in order to reach the stations roof.

Sailor Moon quickly found herself backing away from this blonde man who seemed to be working with the monsters. He somehow stopped her tiara in mid air and not knowing what to do, she panicked. 'What do I do? I don't know how to beat him.' She felt tears welling in her eyes as he drew closer, while he chuckled to himself, until, "You shall not touch her!" Masked star descended with a mighty crash, which caused the man to jump back. The dust cleared to reveal man in moon-white armor and his 8' golden staff.

Masked star turned to Sailor Moon. "Are you alright, are you hurt?" She shook her head. "Thank the stars. Dry your tears, Sailor Moon; he will not hurt you while I stand." He turned to look at the man. "You must be the one responsible for those monsters." The blonde man simply smirked and said, "So what if I am? What business is it of yours?"

"When it involves the safety of the innocent, it is always my business. I would ask the name of the man I'm about to fight."

"Not that it will matter in the end, but I am Jadeite, one of Queen Beryl's four generals in charge of her Youma army. It is our duty to collect energy from these pathetic humans to fuel her power and ensure her return and eventual rise as the new ruler of the universe."

"Well then that would make us enemies, I'm afraid. You tried to harm Sailor Moon, a crime which I cannot ignore or leave unpunished. Prepare to meet the reaper, Jadeite!" He was about to charge, only to be stopped by a rose embedded at his feet, Which Jadeite used as an opening to escape. Jadeite forgotten, Masked Star turned to where the rose came from to see Tuxedo Mask standing there.

"You better have a good reason for letting him escape, Tuxedo boy." Star said while pointing his staff at him. "You really should keep your rage in check. Any further fighting would have endangered the one you were trying to save, along with countless other innocent lives." Thedon lowered his staff and calmed himself down. "Very well, I can see your point. But, the next time I see him, you had better not interfere." Tuxedo Mask simply smiled and left. Thedon then turned to Sailor Moon. "Sailor Moon, my duty has once again been fulfilled for now. I apologize for my recklessness. Always know that you are never alone in your struggle." He left using his new abilities, hopping across the skyline as he heard, "Masked Star, Thank You!" He looked back and gave a warm smile, and watched as Sailor moon swooned.

The next day came as everyone who suffered from energy drainage arose as if nothing had happened. At the school, Serena was busy trying to write a love letter to the Masked Star. She was interrupted when Molly came and snatched the pad of paper she was using. "And what is this, "To my beloved Masked Star"? Sounds like someone's writing a love letter." Serena could only claim denial as she started chasing Molly. Miss Haruna came in and greeted everyone as she heard Serena say that it was her homework, which prompted her to join the chase. This was the scene Thedon saw when he entered the classroom. Sighing to himself he thought, 'Another day filled with madness. I had better stop this now.'

He simply waited for Molly to pass by, then faster then any of them could see, snatched the pad from her hands, ending the chase and causing a three person dog-pile. "Masked Star? Serena I do hope that isn't some thinly veiled reference to me that you plan on spreading around. Not that it will do you any good since Love Line had been shut down." This got the attention of all the girls including Miss Haruna. Serena was first to speak up, "What do you mean, "Shut down"?" "Apparently it was an illegal pirate broadcast used for blackmail against the stations head producer run by the cleaning staff. Good news for me since I'll finally get a good nights sleep."

The class stared at him in confusion. "Don't give me that look. I know full well that quite a few of you girls sent in love letters naming me in them, and the constant sneezing kept me up until it went off for the night." He turned to watch as Serena got to her feet. "I would strongly suggest you save this for when you get home. I have enough angry parents hounding me as it is, saying that I'm distracting them from school work."

He walked to his desk while Serena stared at him. 'The nerve of that guy, still I wouldn't mind if he was the Masked Star, he is rich and handsome.' 'That was a tad too close for comfort. I don't know how much longer I can keep up this charade of ignorance. Perhaps it's time I had a proper chat with Luna.'


	3. Chapter 3

A.N.-Please see chapter 1 for disclaimer

**A Weighty Crisis**

Two weeks have passed since Thedon learned his newest abilities, and he is currently hard at work training himself. 'I can't believe that scum almost touched her. I need to be faster, I need to be stronger.' He had established a routine, everyday after he came home, he would spend hours in their private gym, pushing himself to the point of exhaustion and only resting on the weekends. His parents were becoming rather concerned. They confronted him numerous times in the hopes of getting hi9m to slow down, but he always said the same thing.

"My reasons for doing this are my own. They will benefit me in the long run. You need not be concerned about me."

Another day dawned on Tokyo and Thedon went through his daily morning routine. As he exited the shower, he examined himself noting the significant change in his appearance. His stomach, somewhat bloated from his younger years of gorging himself on countless forms of sweets, was slowly but surely shrinking. His arms were becoming thicker with muscle and his legs were the same. Despite this improvement, he still wasn't satisfied. Yet, he knew that his new look would only attract more girls to him. 'And I was so hoping to go through my life without being dogged by fan-girls.' He shivered at the mere thought of every mans greatest fear. Shaking his head of such topics, he continued getting ready for another day.

Serena was never very punctual when it came to anything school related, but she was slower then normal today. She had just gotten out of the shower to weigh herself, and found she had somehow gained half a pound in weight. Like most girls her age, she made a big deal about the smallest things, and has been depressed since last night. She was brought out of her thoughts by the voice of Thedon.

"Hey Serena, how are you today?" He looked at her when she didn't respond, and noticed her worried expression. He braced himself for a possible tirade before asking, "Okay, what seems to be the problem today?" Serena broke down into tears. "I've gained half a pound. I'm becoming fat."

"Half a pound, that's it? That much isn't anything to worry about. But if you want my advice, cut back on the junk food." Serena looked at him through tear-soaked eyes. "I mean, I know I'm not exactly fitness man of the year material, but learning to limit yourself, by even a small amount, can pay off in the end." Feeling somewhat cheered up, Serena picked up her pace. Luna was observing them not to far away.

'This is just like how Solaris would comfort the princess and her friends. He has no idea he's charming her without even trying. Perhaps it's time for a little talk.'

Arriving at school early for once, Serena and Thedon want their separate ways with Serena joining her friend Molly and two other girls, while Thedon made for the classroom. He was passing a small ally when he heard something. "Hey, you." Thedon looked around but saw no one. "Down here." He looked down and saw Luna. He ducked into the ally to avoid any suspicion. "What are you doing here of all places? Here I thought you were keeping a low profile."

"Well, I figured it was time for a formal introduction. My name is Luna, one of Queen Serenities former advisors. And, if your stance is anything to go by, you mast have recently met Solaris."

"You could say that, although we didn't have much time for a proper introduction."

"I saw you comforting Serena on the way here. Hopefully she takes your advice. Anyway, I would like to tell you more about who you were and how you relate to her."

"It wouldn't have anything to do with the prince of the Sun Kingdom being offered as a personal bodyguard to the moon princess in exchange for an alliance, would it?"

"Yes it does, how did you know?"

"Ever since I was five years old, I've been having these vivid dreams which I only just realized were memories of my past life."

"That is possible; the sun prince was five when the alliance was made."

"Well, these dreams were what brought me to Tokyo. I was hoping to find some kind of closure, yet here I find some other worldly conspiracy that threatens us all."

"That reminds me, how was it you came to be in that jewelry store the night we first met?"

"I heard Serena's friend calling for help and I saw that monster strangling her. The next thing I know, I charge forward, tackle the monster, and found myself in the predicament you saw when Sailor Moon got there. Which reminds me, did she happen to remember seeing me transform?"

"She hasn't made any mention of it, I think she was too scared at the time to take notice, and I think it's best to keep it that way for now."

"I'm not so sure about that. I mean, you being around her only serves to confirm my suspicions of who Sailor Moon is, yet she has yet to learn that I'm the Masked Star. I feel it's only a matter of time before something happens, and then the cat comes out of the bag, so to speak. And what about those other girls I've seen in my past life?"

"That can wait for another time. But for now, just try to continue like you have been. The time to reveal who you are to her will come soon, and you'll know when the time is right. In the meantime, try to keep the fact that you know who she is to yourself. We can't risk the Negaverse finding out."

"Very well, I see your point. Just try not to tease Serena too much about her weight. She made a big deal over half a pound; I don't want to see her worrying herself into starvation."

They both parted ways and the day went on like normal. Afterwards, Thedon was about to head home when he heard Serena. "Hey Thedon." He turned towards her. "Yes, what is it?"

"Me and a few friends are heading over to this new gym that just opened. I thought I'd invite since you also want to watch your weight."

"That's a very generous offer, but my family has its own private work-out room stocked with everything you could possibly think of. So, I'm afraid I'll have to decline."

"Aw, don't be such a stick in the mud. It's much more fun exercising with friends then alone. Besides, it might help you to see how the common person stays in shape." She grabbed his arms and dragged him along with her. He sighed in resignation as they made their way to the gym. From the outside, it didn't look like anything special, but somehow Thedon could tell that something wasn't right.

After waiting a few minutes for the girls to change, he accompanied them to one of the work-out areas. They were stopped by a blonde man who claimed to be an employee. He offered to show them the full course, which the girls accepted. Thedon decided to hang back. "You girls go on ahead; I need to have a quick word with Jed here." After waiting for them to leave, Jed spoke, "You seem quite popular with the ladies."

"One could say that, couldn't they, Jadeite?" Jed, or Jadeite as he was revealed, took a step back in surprise. "Sir, you must be mistaken; I don't know anyone by that name."

"Cut the bull-shit, Jadeite. I'm on to you and your sick intentions." Sensing that denial wouldn't work, he moved to attack, only to have Thedon vanish in a blur. Jadeite looked around frantically. 'Where did he go?' "Whatever are you looking for?" Jadeite started as Thedon appeared behind him. Before Jadeite could move, Thedon unleashed another of his new skills. "Shigan," he said with resolve as he propelled his finger into Jadeite hard enough to leave a bullet sized hole on his body. Jadeite staggered back from the sudden blow.

"As you can clearly see, I'm not someone to mess with lightly. Send this message to Queen Beryl, the sun has risen and shall cleanse her darkness from this mortal plane. Now get out of my sight before I decide to finish you off here and now."

Jadeite knew he was out-matched by a huge margin, and so he wisely retreated. 'Well, that takes care of that. And now, to join the girls.' He found them hard at work, perhaps a little too hard. He walked up the Serena who was really going to town on a rowing machine. "Serena, pace yourself. You'll never get anything done of you tire yourself out on the first exercise. That's goes for girls as well. Remember, "Haste Makes Waste"." They took his words to heart and indeed paced themselves, much to the annoyance of the gym staff.

After two hours of exercise, the girls decided to stop for the day. "That was a job well done, girls. Now, who's up for a little afternoon snack to celebrate? My treat." The girls agreed with Thedon, but were stopped short of the door. They turned to see Jed standing there. "I'm afraid I can't let you leave yet." Thedon tensed in case of a fight. "We couldn't allow such amazing customers like yourselves to leave without sampling our complimentary post-workout spa, guaranteed to rejuvenate you and leave you absolutely refreshed." Molly and the two unnamed girls jumped at the chance for a free spa treatment, while Thedon and Serena decided against it, Serena because she was hungry and Thedon because he knew better.

After Serena got changed and said goodbye to the other girls, they made their way to a local café. Sadly, just outside of an arcade, Serena feinted. 'Oh dear sweet fires of Ifrit, she must have worked harder then I thought to pass out like this.' He heard the door open behind him. "Oh hello, are you a friend of Serena?"

"You could say that, um,"

"Oh, I'm sorry; I'm Andrew, an employee at this arcade."

"Name's Thedon Giscard. You have someplace we can put her to lie down in?"

"What happened to her?"

"We were going for some lunch when she passed out. I think she over worked herself at the gym. I told her to take it easy."

"Alright, let's get her inside; I'll help you get her up."

Serena woke up half an hour later, and after some encouragement from Andrew and Thedon, was soon enjoying a nice lunch with both of them. Afterwards, Thedon offered to buy here a snack, which she gladly accepted. They were then enjoying a nice walk while sharing the donuts, when they came across Darien. "Well of it isn't meatball head. Although, maybe I should call you donut head instead. You're really chowing down." Serena was about to respond, but Thedon beat her to it. "Darien, back off. She's done nothing to you, so get on your way."

"Whoa, calm down there moneybags, just thought I'd ask for one." Checking the bag, he saw one left. "Well consider yourself lucky, this is the last one. Now leave before things turn violent."

"Fine, see ya moneybags, donut head." This made Serena angry. "One of these days I'm going to bean him good."

"Here, allow me." Thedon picked up a small pebble, took aim, and flicked it right at the back of Darien's retreating head, which nailed him dead center. "Ow." "Just a little parting gift as thanks for your company. So long chump." They left while still laughing. "That was amazing, Thedon!"

"It wasn't all that great. So, shall we head home, or back to the gym?"

"I think I'll head back to the gym for awhile."

"I think I'll join you, I just remembered I have some unfinished business there."

So they went back to the gym, with Serena using an elliptical machine, while Thedon decided for some exercise of a different sort. 'Since I'm back here, I might as well soften up that asshole Jadeite.' "And where might you be going?" He looked down and saw Luna. "I'm going to have a little warm-up before the main event. I have a feeling that the relaxation room is what's draining the people's energy. Give me five minutes before you tell Serena, you know, let me have a little fun."

"Very well, since you seem so confident in your abilities."

"Hey, I managed to injure that prick once already. No reason why I can't do it again. Now remember, five minutes, and then coax Serena done there. I'll try not to make too much of a mess." With those last words, he blurred out of sight using his Soru ability. "Sometimes I wonder where he gets his confidence." Luna then settled down for a little cat nap.

Jadeite stood before his "relaxation chambers" as they gathered energy from Miss Haruna and other unlucky gym clientele. "As much as I enjoyed this little scheme, I'll need to wrap this up soon. Queen Beryl is growing impatient, and that wretched human is on to me. I can't risk staying here and being exposed."

"Well, sorry to disappoint you, Jadeite, but I come bearing your eviction notice. You are to leave this dimension immediately or else extreme measures will be taken to facilitate your departure." Jadeite cursed as he turned around. "Well well, if it isn't Thedon Giscard. I wasn't expecting you back so soon."

"Well I only spared you on a whim, but upon further scrutiny I found that it was a bad idea. So, what say we get this party started before the guest of honor arrives?"

"I couldn't agree more. Don't think I'll be so easy to beat, you just caught me off guard."

"Heh heh heh, you think just because you've seen some of my abilities that you have the advantage? I'll admit, if a much longer period of time passed between then and now, I would be worried. But as you are, simply knowing what I can do is nowhere near enough to give you the upper-hand."

He blurred out of site using Soru, stopping at random spots in order to instill a false advantage and to confuse Jadeite. He would stop at a spot, Jadeite would attack with a spell, and he would move to another spot and the process would repeat itself. One spell came too close for comfort, so Thedon decided to counter-attack. "Storm Leg!" He kicked his foot out, which at first didn't seem to do anything, until Jadeite felt something solid and slightly sharpened slam into him.

"How did you like that? You're not the only one with a ranged attack. The Storm Leg, or Rankyaku, allows the user to launch a sharp blade of air by kicking at speeds quicker then the untrained eye can follow, and depending on how it's used, can be quite destructive." He launched several more, which clipped Jadeite as he barely managed to dodge them. 'I can't believe this is happening. How could a mere human be able to match me, one of Queen Beryl's top four generals, in combat? I need to collect what energy I've gathered and leave before its too late.'

Jadeite ran for the energy containment orb, of which Thedon took notice. "Oh no you don't." He used Soru to intercept Jadeite, but instead of attacking, he took out a camera a snapped a picture. "And just what do you hope to accomplish by taking my picture?"

"You clearly don't understand human society, so I'll dumb it down for you. I show this picture to my parents, who are highly influential people, and tell them of your activities, they go to the police, they put out an A.P.B, and eventually all of Japan will know who you are and what you are. That's going to put a big damper on your little energy harvest operation. If I give them enough of a reason, they won't even think twice about issuing a kill on site notice. So go ahead, crawl back to your dear Queen Beryl and in addition to my last message, tell her that this planet is officially declaring Youma hunting season open." He let out a light chuckle before looking at his wrist.

"Oh dear would you look at the time. I'm afraid I must take my leave of this little party, but do give my regards to Queen Beryl from the Giscard family. See you on the train to Hell." And he was gone in a blur, just as Sailor Moon arrived. She looked around in confusion as to why the place looked trashed. "Luna, what happened here?" Luna merely responded with, "Oh, just letting an ally blow of some steam." Jadeite could only curse as he felt his strength failing, so had had to leave without the energy.

Thedon walked down the stairs with a light skip in his step, the memory of convincing his parents to report to the police about the Negaverse still fresh in his mind. He saw the T.V. on and decided to stop for a few minutes. "The top story this morning is a possible breakthrough in the investigation of the various unexplainable events of the past month. Thanks to some useful information submitted by some concerned citizens, the police are now on the look-out for anyone with a possible connection to the Negaverse, a steadily rising cult which supposedly drains the victims of their various scams of their life energy in order to resurrect their leader, an individual known as Queen Beryl. Disciples of this teaching are usually given names based on a precious stone or mineral. The police urge anyone to report any suspicious activity to them right away, and have offered a reward for anyone with information leading to the arrest and trial of these criminals."

Thedon arrived at school to find his entire class taking about the news. Ignoring the random chatter, he sat down at his desk. He looked over to see Serena with her head down. "Serena, are you alright?" She lifted her head to reveal slightly puffy eyes. Thedon was getting concerned. "What's wrong?"

"I broke the scale in my bathroom last night. How could I suddenly weigh 300 pounds?"

"Serena, do you happen to have any younger siblings?"

"Yeah, a little brother. His name is Sammy."

"I think I know exactly what's happening. Your brother must have been messing with the scale in order to play a practical joke on you. There's no possible way you could have gained over 200 pounds in one night." This seemed to cheer Serena up, and the day proceeded like normal.


	4. Chapter 4

**Superstar Insanity**

Things were not going well for Jadeite. Not only did he have to explain his most recent failure, but he had to recount how he was soundly defeated, not by Sailor Moon, but by a mere human. He then grudgingly relayed said humans message to his Queen. "You mean to tell me that you were beaten by a mere human, who didn't use any form of magic, and forced to retreat without retrieving the energy you gathered, and that this human even told the world of our existence with intent to bar us from collecting the energy needed for my return? I grow tired with your failures of late, Jadeite."

"Yes, my queen, I too am sickened by this recent development."

"In light of this development, we shall have to be more discreet, or find some way to discredit this human. From what you have told me, we know that this human is from a highly influential family with numerous ties. Discrediting them will be difficult, so for now continue with your current task. Now go, and do not fail me again."

"At once, Queen Beryl. I shall not disappoint you this time."

"See to it that you don't, Jadeite." Jadeite disappeared, leaving Beryl alone with her crystal ball, which was displaying a picture of Thedon Giscard. "This Thedon Giscard is fast becoming a thorn in my side, just like that blasted sun prince Solaris. But soon, the time will come when he cannot run, and then he shall fall, as will that wretched brat Sailor Moon."

"Rankyaku!" Thedon launched another storm leg at another training post, the fifth one in a row. Although he managed to use the basic forms of these abilities to great effect, he felt unsatisfied. So, he decided to train and create some more unique versions. He was training in a forest clearing located on his homes property, since he still had not told his parents about his double life. "Soru razor!" He took of in one direction, and then quickly changed direction. When he stopped, there was a V-shaped gash in the earth. He turned to a nearby tree and said, "Shigan drill!" thrusting his finger forward while twisting his hand. His attack bored clean through it, which caused it to fall in his direction. He placed both arms above his head and braced himself while thinking, "Tekkai!" His body gained a slight sheen as the tree fell, which instead of crushing him, broke in half upon impact with his forearms. Sadly, this particular tree was home to a bee hive, which shattered upon impact with the ground. The bees, furious at the destruction of their home, rounded upon Thedon, who immediately thought, "Kami-e!" His whole body suddenly went limp as he deftly dodged the swarm, although a few of the more zealous insects landed a lucky hit or just grazed him. He quickly grew tired of this and used a combination of Geppou and Soru to lose the hive.

After getting a bit of minor first aid for the stings, bruises, and cuts sustained from his morning workout, he decided to take a more scenic route to school. Using Geppou and Soru to scale the rooftops, he managed to get a bird's eye view of the Juuban district. He spied Serena staring at a poster advertising a new brand of vitamins, only to have Molly come up from behind her and smack on the back of the head. He stopped to have a quick chuckle before continuing on to Crossroads junior high school.

He arrived close to five minutes before Serena did, and took his seat. When she finally got there, she was surprised. "Thedon, how did you get here?"

"I walked." Serena sweat dropped at that response. "No, I mean how did you get here before me without me seeing you?"

"You could say I took a bit of a scenic route this morning." A few of the girls laughed at Serena's confused expression. Melvin interrupted with the same poster Serena was admiring, which launched the girls into discussions about what they would do with the amount of money the idol endorsing the product was paid, which steered into which of them were idol material. Melvin made his opinion known by saying that Serena was the most idol worthy among them. She started daydreaming when Thedon cut in.

"I can tell you right now, you don't want that kind of life. Paparazzi around every corner ready to snap a picture, reporters taking your every word and trying to phrase it to their advantage, rivals lurking in the shadows waiting for you to make a mistake which they can capitalize on, constantly having to look over your shoulder for the occasional stalker. I've experienced all this and more besides. It's enough to drive someone into madness." On that note, the teacher arrived and class began.

Meanwhile, a large group of girls were crowding around said idol, who went by the name Saffron. They were all clamoring for an autograph, which she was only too happy to provide. Unbeknownst to her or the crowd, Jadeite stood amongst some nearby shadows. He was wearing a high-collared trench coat to conceal himself from being seen by police, in response to the heightened city-wide security. 'This girl could be useful.'

School was let out and Thedon decided to perform a little neighborhood watch. He went to a nearby alley and performed Geppou to ascend to the rooftops. He spotted Serena and decided to follow her to find out where she lived. 'If I'm going to be so involved in this, I should at least know where she lives, if for nothing other then security.' He watched as she came to a two-story house with a red roof. 'Modest dwellings.' He watched as she and Molly entered. He spotted a balcony with a glass-sliding door. Overcome with curiosity, he touched down and hid out of sight. He then had to sit through what had to be the worst practice session in his fourteen years of life. 'Sweet blessed waters of Undine that is horrible. I am out of here.' He took off before his personal sense of honor forced him to intervene in what could be a front page scandal.

Thedon woke up the next morning in a bit of a foul mood. He just couldn't shake the feeling that something was going to go completely wrong. He also noticed that his five senses were becoming stronger. His vision was sharper, his hearing more acute, and his nose more sensitive to certain smells. He put such thoughts out of his head and got ready for another day. He walked along until he came upon a large crowd. He didn't want to get mixed up in whatever was happening, so he used Soru to speed past the crowd, making a seconds long eye contact with a disguised Jadeite. He came to a stop several yards from the crowd. 'I don't like this. This little gathering has Negaverse written all over it. Probably best to wait for now. I can't risk exposing myself. Lord and all great spirits forgive me for this decision.'

Thedon felt himself on edge, he just knew that something was wrong yet he couldn't figure out when to act. On top of that, weird things were happening. The entire class was practicing for some talent show, which itself wasn't strange if you overlook the fact that no such thing had been announced until today. His senses were ringing like mad. Everyone was outside, him included, where Melvin and Molly were apparently giving a premature acceptance speech, which degenerated into a shouting match. He sidled up next to Serena, "I'll be glad when this whole thing's over."

"You and me both. The last time something like this happened, it took six separate therapists', a pharmacy of drugs, and two hypnotists before I could sleep soundly again. And I still sometimes have nightmares about it to this day." Serena looked at him in confusion and disbelief. "Believe me, such an experience is best left in the dark, yet the scars left behind continue to bleed. But enough of my brooding, I'd better sort this out before blood is shed." He left and came back with a hose. "What good is that going to be?" Serena asked, "Elementary, Serena, nothing sobers up a crowd better then a cold shower. Care to assist? It'll be good for a laugh." Serena simply shrugged and walked towards the water nozzle. "Luna, you might want to make yourself scarce if you don't want a cold bath." He turned back to Serena, "Okay, on three, turn it on full blast, got it?" Serena nodded, "Alright, here we go, one, two, and THREE!" A great deluge of freezing cold water surged towards the crowd and SPLASH, made contact. He held it there for five seconds before saying, "Alright, cease fire, cease fire!" Serena got the message and cut of the flow of water. The whole class stood sputtering and shivering while some shot nasty looks in the direction the water came from. Thedon just stood there with the hose in his hand and a smirk on his face. "Another job well done." He started laughing, then showed a hand to Serena with the 3, 2, 1 gesture, which she took to mean "on three, run for your life." He dropped the hose, made a bugling sound and said, "And they're off!" which prompted Serena to start running.

It was a few hours later that they stopped running to catch their breaths. "Now that is what I call crowd control. A good laugh, a bit of exercise, let simmer and watch the time fly, eh Serena? Serena?" He turned around and saw her looking at what looked like a theater. "What seems to have caught your attention?"

"That building, I thought it was closed down months ago."

"Now that you mention it, this looks exactly like a building described to my mother while she was discussing potential areas for a new office complex. Seems rather active for being condemned." They both decided to investigate. They heard music coming from the main theatre and looked inside. They saw the entire class performing as if in front of an audience, but the seats were all empty. "Okay, I know overexertion can make you a bit loopy but this is ridicules."

"What do you think is happening?"

"I haven't the slightest idea." Then they noticed the only person facing away from them turning her head until it was a full 180 degrees, showing a monstrous face with blue skin. "Can I help you, my dears?" it asked in a malice filled voice. "Shit, Serena, get out of here and find help."

"But what about you?"

"I'll be fine, don't worry about me, now go!" He shoved Serena out into the hallway and shut the door. 'Sorry Serena, but now isn't the time to reveal my skills to you.' "Just as I suspected; more Negaverse trash."

"You dare to call me trash, human?"

"I dare, because that's what you are, pieces of trash that rolled out of a dump in a vain attempt to avoid the incinerator. Well sorry to disappoint you, but the fire is all-consuming, and none are immune to the burn." He used Soru to get closer in an attempt to minimize collateral damage. "Shigan Hornet Swarm!" A large number of rapid-fire Shigans were launched at the monster, inflicting some damage but not dealing a fatal blow as he hoped. The monster countered by shooting some sort of ice-based webbing from her mouth in an attempt to trap him. "Not bad, but not good enough. Soru Razor!" He charged forward leaving a gash in the floor behind him and tackled the monster which forced her back. She fired more ice webs, which he avoided using Geppou.

Serena quickly found herself in the girls' bathroom, scared out of her mind. Luna was with her, trying to coax her out. "Serena, are you alright? It's time to become Sailor Moon."

"But I'm too scared."

"But your friends are in great danger, especially Thedon. Are you simply going to leave him there to die and let his sacrifice be for nothing?"

"Okay, if I really have to, MOON PRYSM POWER!"

"Tekkai Bombardier!" Thedon dropped down, trying to crush his opponent to no avail. A tingling went of in the back of his head. "As much fan as this has been, the main event is about to begin, and so I must take my leave, for now." He used Soru to speed out of sight, and the Youma resumed her human disguise just as the last bit of energy was drained from her victims. Thedon hid behind a pillar, waiting for the proper moment to join the fray as the Masked Star. The curtains drew closed as the last person dropped. "The curtain is closed on this bogus talent show. Now give these people back their energy."

"Who are you?"

"I'm Sailor Moon, the champion of justice, and on behalf of the moon, I shall right wrongs and triumph over evil and that means you." The Youma took her true form in response to her declaration. "You don't scare me one little bit." The monster tried to freeze her, which she dodged just barely. She crawled along the seats, hoping to surprise her, only to be ambushed and slowly frozen. Her cries for help triggered a reaction with Thedon, and he sprang into action. "How dare you hurt her? RISE O HEART OF THE SUN AND CLEANSE THE SHADOW BEFORE THEE!" In a flash, Thedon stood there in his blood-red Spartan armor with his 8" staff. "Rankyaku Mantis Strike!" A blade of air shaped like a mantis claw struck the monster and freed Serena. "What's that, who dares?"

"The light in the darkness, the eye of the storm, the oasis in the desert. I am the Heart of the sun that burns hotter then any fire. I am the Masked Star and you will not touch her again."

"Masked Star, have you seen my friend?"

"Don't worry about him, Sailor Moon. He is alright and in safe hands. Now, let's finish off this foul tempered popsicle."

"Right, MOON TIARA MAGIC!" "SUN JAVALIN SCOURE!" The two powerful attacks destroyed the monster and the container of stolen energy. "Another job well done, now I think it best that we leave."

"Why do you say that?"

"Staying could bring up unwanted questions. Plus I'm sure they can find their own ways home." And they were both gone. They both went their separate ways and undid their transformations when out of sight of each other. Feeling exhausted, Serena decided to head home. Thedon decided on the same thing, hoping that Serena wasn't too worried about him.

Today was Sunday so there wasn't any school. Serena decided to visit Thedon to see if he was alright. Luna decided to tag along as well. They both soon found themselves at the front doors of the Giscard mansion. Serena rang the bell and waited. An elderly gentleman answered the door. "Can I help you miss?"

"Is Thedon home?"

"Why yes, the young master is out back. Shall I get him for you miss…?"

"Serena, my name is Serena Tsukino."

"Very well Miss Serena, I'm Sheldon, head butler of this estate. Would you like to wait for him?"

"No thanks; I'll come back another time."

"You could try to find him yourself. He's taken a liking to the forest in the back of the property. Simply follow the dirt trail and you'll find a clearing. He tends to practice there."

"Alright, thank you."

"Of course."

She took Sheldon's advice and she and Luna walked along the dirt path. They got to the clearing but couldn't find him. Serena looked around, noting the various logs set up like training posts. Then she heard a sound, almost like someone was singing. She looked to the treetops and found Thedon, reclining on a branch seemingly unaware of his surroundings. She and Luna remained quiet, not wanting to disturb him and listened to his song.

"_I remember sitting with you_

_Underneath the tree of life_

_And listened to every fainted cry_

_Of the creatures there on the day the world began_

_Looking at everything that I've lost_

_And almost everything that I've loved_

_I'll hold them all tightly in my arms_

_Wondering where I am_

_Please tell me where to go_

_All of the answers you seek lie hidden in the sun_

_If I hadn't met you my life would have been in the darkness forever_

_Within my wings lie the powers of immortality_

_But by meeting you my whole life has changed_

_You give light to me hope to me strength into my life_

_All this time these twelve thousand years_

_I know I aishiterou_

_Eight thousand years since the time that I met you_

_My love is strong as ever before_

_Words can't say of this time I've been waiting_

_To share my love with you_

_I'd give my life I would give you the world_

_To see you smiling every day_

_One hundred million and two thousands from now_

_I know I aishiterou_

_I want you to know since you came in my life every day_

_Every night you bring light into the darkest skies_

_All these twelve thousand years_

_I've been loving you"_

He finished his song and both Serena and Luna had tears in their eyes. "I take it you enjoyed the song?" They both jumped at the question. "I somehow find it relates to me on some primal level, and has ever since I was five, when the dreams started."

"What do you mean by that?" Thedon jumped from his branch and landed with the grace of a cat.

"When I was five, I started having these really vivid dreams. They didn't bother me at first, but night after night they would continue. Eventually I was so consumed by these dreams that I started seeing hallucinations during my every day life. I was also passing out at random intervals. My parents took me to see numerous psychiatrists and psychologists, but still they continued. I became restless and feared going to sleep. Two months ago I had the most vivid one yet, and became obsessed with Sailor V."

"What happened then?" Serena was enthralled by his story.

"My most recent psychologist suggested that my subconscious might be telling me something important, and they all somehow pointed here, to Juuban in Tokyo. I can only hope that by staying here as long as need be, I can finally find some closure. Not that the entire experience has been bad. I think I can see myself staying here for a long time, for the right reasons."


	5. Chapter 5

**Blue Screen, Mercury Rising**

The sun rose on yet another day, stirring dreamers from their slumber. Thedon sat up in bed. 'I can't believe how emotional I got yesterday. The right time has yet to come, and I almost spilled everything. I need to keep a better hold on my emotions.' For some odd reason he felt a pull at his heart. 'What now?'

'It would seem another scout is destined to appear soon.'

'Oh, is that a fact Solaris? You do of course know that polygamy is largely frowned upon in this day and age.'

'Che, just a bunch of old prudes trying to control what isn't meant to be controlled. The heart wants what it wants, when it wants it, not when someone tells it to. The mere fact that during my time, I had won the love of the moon princess and her friends is a testament to that. Had I not been consumed by my sense of duty, I would have been surrounded by nine lovely queens. I can only hope that you don't make the same mistake.'

'Easy for you to say, you don't have to worry about possibly shaming a family with roots so far back in history they could choke weeds. Yet here I am, the latest branch of the bloodline, being met by talking cats, super-heroes and a past self that probably predates the dinosaurs.'

'I don't like it anymore then you, but this is the hand that fate has dealt. You can either pick it up and run with it, or sit back and complain while countless innocent lives are put in danger. Now I would suggest you get your ass up before we argue ourselves into the next year.'

'Yeah, yeah, I hear you. Just got to remember the old family motto, "Business is in the blood, success is in the soul." Although I somehow find myself doubting it with each passing day.'

Setting aside his mental argument with his past life, he made his way to school the same way he always did in the past few days, with a combination of Geppou and Soru among the rooftops of Juuban. He got to school and found Serena with Molly and Melvin. "And what seems to be the center of discussion this morning?"

"You didn't hear Thedon? There's a new transfer student from Brighton Academy."

"That's news to me. I don't think my family has any in-depth ties to the education system. So, what's she like?"

"We don't know, she only just transferred here this morning. But from what I heard she's really smart."

"All that info and no name? What kind of debriefing is this?"

"For your information, her name is Amy Mizuno."

Thedon looked up and spotted an unfamiliar girl by the window. "Is that her?" He pointed at a girl with short blue hair. "Well, if nothing else she might be good company." This got him some sour looks from Serena. "I bet she isn't all that smart. She probably got kicked out of Brighton and she's using the transfer story to cover it up."

"I wouldn't be too sure about that. My life demands me to constantly be on guard in case someone tries to use me for extortion, and I've learned how to read people very well. Even from here I can tell there's a sharp mind behind that aloof expression." Amy turned her heads towards them, which prompted some of them to act like they weren't talking about her, while Thedon made eye-contact and seemed to evaluate her, as if reading her soul. His prolonged stare brings a blush to her face as she looks away. She glances back up to see him give her a small smile, which deepened her blush and sent her walking away.

School had ended and Thedon decided to walk home today instead of using his recently-dubbed Rokushiki abilities. He was humming the song he was so familiar with, bringing a small tear to his eye. He caught site of Amy not too far ahead of him. Being as sociable as he was, he decided to talk to her. "Hey, Amy, wait up." Amy turned and saw the same boy from earlier. "Oh, I'm sorry; I don't think we've met Mr.?"

"Oh, my apologies, my name is Thedon Giscard."

"Giscard? As in Giscard Confections Inc.?"

"Yeah, the owner's my father. We moved here a few months ago for, personal reasons. My apologies for staring earlier." They exchanged small talk for awhile in this fashion before he suddenly felt something jump onto his head then off again to land on Amy. She let out a surprised yelp as whatever it was landed on her. Thedon regained his bearings and looked up to see Luna standing on Amy's shoulders. "Oh, aren't you cute. You gave me quite a startle. Are you playing Lion on the Serengeti?" Luna was enjoying having her chin scratched before she saw Thedon. "Luna, what is the matter with you, using me like some kind of trampoline? Have you been abusing the catnip again?"

"Oh, her name is Luna, is she yours?"

"Well no, I just happen to be friends with her owner and she tends to spoil her a bit too much. I keep telling her to go easy on the catnip, but she never listens to me." It was then that Serena decided to join them. Luna went to her and had a hushed conversation, which went unnoticed to Amy, but was seen by Thedon. 'Why would Luna be attacking her? She doesn't carry the stench of a monster.'

Serena and Amy went on ahead, getting to know each other while Luna hung back with Thedon. "Luna, what in the name of all that's holy is the matter with you?"

"Sorry, I thought you might have been in danger."

"In danger from what? She can't be a Youma, she doesn't carry their scent. And before you try and argue, I know for a fact that scent, regardless of origin, is the hardest of all things to mask."

"There's just something odd about her. I keep getting a funny feeling every time I look at her."

"Well, in any case, don't make a habit out of this. People are likely to think you're feral and will have you put in a shelter or worse, have you put to sleep." Being a cat, Luna knew perfectly well what that meant. She also couldn't help but recall her mission debriefing last night.

(FLASHBACK)

It was late at night, a time when most people and animals are sleeping and most businesses are closed. However, one animal wasn't sleeping. After making her way into the arcade, Luna went up to one of the machines, which came to life. After an introduction and confirmation of her identity, she started with her report. "Sometimes I think Serena is never going to live up to her destiny."

"You must teach her and be patient. What of this boy you mentioned last time?"

"He has confirmed my suspicions. The prince of the sun has awakened. Even now he continues to devote time and energy to the cause of protecting the Sailor Scouts."

"This is a welcome if unexpected development. Before you leave, Headquarters wants you to investigate this person." A picture of Amy comes up on the screen. "Who is that?"

"A new student in Serena and Thedon's school. There's a peculiar feeling about her. She could be from the Negaverse."

"I understand, Luna out."

(FLASHBACK END)

The group soon found themselves at the arcade, where Serena was busy playing a Sailor V game. Thedon was off to the side, thinking of new, more creative attacks for his abilities. 'I might be able to help you there.'

'How so, Solaris?'

'Believe it or not, your past lives aren't limited to those of the human variety. One of them happened to be an alien from a powerful race known for their strong psychokinetic abilities.'

'So you're saying that I wasn't human at one point in the past, and that I was psychic?'

'Exactly, with these abilities, you can use that impressive knowledge of yours as an actual weapon instead of a figurative one. You can read minds, alter others perception of your appearance, manipulate the environment with your thoughts, and even stop time for a short while.'

'You mean to tell me that this past me was so powerful he could stop time itself?'

'Yes, but he could only do so for a short time. But that short period can mean the difference between victory and defeat. He even developed a whole fighting style around it known as the Temporal Fist.'

'Temporal Fist? Bit of a giveaway if you ask me.'

'I will admit that the name is a bit lackluster, but it's not the name of the style that counts, it's what you can do with it the matters.'

'Well, I'll just have to wait for the opportune moment to test it out.'

'Why not try it out by giving that Amy girl a little extra hand with that game?'

'Not a bad idea, but I don't think she needs any help if that crowd is anything to go by.'

He didn't need to be a mind reader to know that she was easily setting a new high score. She got to one-hundred thousand points before she looked at her watch and panicked. She pushed her way through the crowd and ran head-long into Thedon. Both of them fell, but Thedon angled himself so that Amy would land on top of him, thus he would take the brunt of the damage while breaking her fall at the same time. They stared into each others eyes for a long moment before shooting apart. "Sorry about that, Thedon."

"No, no, if anyone should be sorry, it's me for not paying attention to my surroundings. What's the big rush for anyway?"

"I'm taking this after-school computer course and it begins in half an hour. I'll be late if I don't hurry."

"Here, let me help you. I'd hate to be the one to get you in trouble." He helped her gather her things and walked her to the door. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow then. Bye"

"Bye Thedon. Tell Serena I had a nice time."

He watched her leave, not seeing Serena come up behind him. "Thedon?" Her voice caught his attention. "Oh, sorry Serena. Amy was just saying goodbye. She wanted me to tell you she had a nice time."

"If she had so much fun, why did she leave?"

"She said she had an after school computer class to attend in half an hour. I'm sure we'll see her tomorrow." They were about to leave when Andrew stopped them. "Serena, Thedon, there you are."

"What is it, Andrew?"

"Just wanted to make sure you didn't leave without your computer disk."

"Computer disk? It must belong to Amy. Don't worry; we'll make sure she gets it back. See ya."

Amy just managed to make it to her class. Sadly, she couldn't find her computer disk. She was thinking about a possible place where she left it when the instructor walked up. "Hello Amy, I'm very impressed at the amount of energy you've put into our program, so I've selected you to lead the class today, okay?"

"Sure."

"Good, class will start in a minute." The instructor walked away and Amy sighed in relief. Meanwhile, Serena and Thedon were outside the building which held the class. "Ugh, more school stuff? I don't go to school any more then I have to, it's bad for my health."

"Honestly Serena, I'll never understand your chain of reason. I doubt even a genius psychic could make heads or tails of your thoughts. Well, how about you head on home and hold onto that disk. I'll let Amy know where she can find it."

"Alright Thedon, see you later okay?"

"Right. And do try to finish your homework this time. I won't always be there to bail you out, you know." With that, Serena left with the disk and Luna in tow. Thedon turned back to the building. 'This place stinks of Negaverse activity. Time for a little recon action.' Using his enhanced senses along with his Rokushiki, he found Amy's classroom without being seen. He cracked the door open slightly and peered inside. What he saw confirmed his suspicions; the student energy was being drained into the computer screens. 'Probably into those disks, most likely. I best get Serena before I start doing damage.' He left as silently as he entered. He was worried that Amy might have seen him, but he didn't have time to worry about it.

He was half way down the road when he met up with Serena. "Serena, thank goodness I found you, I think Amy is in danger."

"I know, I had a look at what was on this disc, it seems to be some sort of brainwashing program."

Although Thedon hated it, he had to play dumb. "Brainwashing program? It must be the work of that new cult. You go on ahead, try and get as many people out of there as possible. I'll get the police and meet you later."

"Right, you get the police." With that, Serena ran off. Thedon of course had no intentions of getting the police, so he waited until she was out of sight before using Soru to follow her from the shadows. He watched as she used what looked like a pen to change her appearance to look like a teacher. 'Huh, not bad. Now seems like a good time to test my new psychokinetic abilities.' He followed Serena's thought patterns until she stopped in front of the class he scoped out earlier. He decided to hang back a little while longer and listened in.

"Alright, who's in charge of this bogus class?" Amy stood up with an annoyed expression on her face. "May I help you miss? Is there some sort of emergency? Tell me."

"No, more like a total meltdown crisis Amy."

"Have we met?

"No time to act dumb now."

"Serena, it's time for Sailor Moon."

"MOON PRYSM POWER!"

Serena finished her transformation, which seemed to leave Amy in a state of surprise until she was grabbed by the instructor. "Oh Amy, can't I ever leave you in charge for one minute? What's with this little disruption? Can't you see we're trying to conduct a class in here? I'm afraid I'm going to have to ask you to leave." As she said this, she transformed into a monster and started laughing. Thedon saw all this through Serena's eyes, and as much as it pained him, he held himself back. "Let my friend go right now. We know who you really are, and you won't get away with it. The police will be here any minute."

Thedon took his attention away from the conversation to pull out a cell phone and called the police. He then watched as Serena dodged what looked like paper tests, only to see them embed themselves in the wall behind her. She continued to dodge until she was trapped in a corner. The Youma gave her the option to surrender, which she turned down, then sent the drained students after her. She started to panic and Thedon thought that now was the time to intervene. "RISE O HEART OF THE SUN, AND CLEANSE THE SHADOW BEFORE THEE!" When his transformation finished, he used his temporal fist abilities to stop time and place himself between the crowd and Sailor Moon. He then set a few students to go flying back when time resumed, which it did a few second later.

"Masked Star, where did you come from?"

"The where isn't important right now. What is important is getting rid of that poor excuse of a teacher."

The monster laughed at both of them, then turned her attention to Amy. "As for you, you thought you could get away from me? Now surrender to my powers, and give your energy to the Negaforce." She pushed her head closer to the screen, but failed to take hold of her. "I'll never give in to you." A mark on her forehead appeared and started glowing. "Huh, what's this mark from?" Luna and Thedon recognized it immediately. "Mercury!" The mark slowly faded. Luna was hit with a realization. "She's not with the negaverse, she's one of us. Amy is Sailor Mercury." Thedon looked up, "Now is not the time to talk to yourself, Luna. Quickly, give her the rod."

The Monster threw Amy to the ground. "I don't need your energy anyway. Sorry, but it looks like you flunked this class." The monster laughed cruelly before her right arm morphed into an axe. Luna got the rod to Amy, only to have the monster swing its axe-arm down. Amy closed her eyes, waiting for the impact, but it never came. She looked up and saw Masked Star blocking the axe with some kind of psychokinetic shield. "Amy, hurry, transform in Sailor Mercury. I'll stall her as long as I can. Temporal Fist!" Amy watched as the monster was thrown back without him even moving. "Is that all you've got?" The Youma growled and launched more of those razor sharp tests at him. He simply held out his hand, which started glowing with a golden-blue aura, and the projectiles slowed to a dead stop. "My turn, Rankyaku Viper Squad!" He sent out four blades of air, which morphed into viper heads with their fangs out, ready to strike.

Amy watched in amazement until Luna called out to her. "Say Mercury Power!"

"MERCURY POWER!"

Her transformation finished, and then Luna called out, "Use your Mercury bubbles!"

"MERCURY BUBBLES BLAST!"

The entire room became shrouded in mist, and the temperature dropped sharply. The zombified people fainted, giving Sailor Moon a reprieve. "It's so cold, I'm freezing!"

"Well, too bad, if you can't take the cold, stay out of the mist." An image of masked star appeared and the monster lunged at it only to stroke a computer screen. "Strike one." Another image appeared and she lunged for it, only to strike another monitor. "Strike two ugly, come on my great-grandmother has better aim then you and she's long since passed on." An image of Mercury appeared next, and another lunge ends with another miss. "And that's strike three, you are out of here." Mercury called out, "Sailor Moon, are you alright?" She replied with, "I'm fine but the ugly thing isn't. MOON TIARA MAGIC!"

In a flash of light, the monster crumbled into ash and the drained students were regaining their senses. "Good, they're getting back to normal." Amy looked at herself in amazement, when masked star addressed her. "Sailor Mercury, welcome to the team. Long ago, I took an oath to protect the Sailor scouts to my dying breath, and protect you I shall come hell or high water. Know that just as I am Sailor Moons shield, so am I yours, the shield in the shadows, the sword in the light, the winds have ears, the earth has eyes. I look forward to fighting beside you next time." With those final words, he was gone.

The next day came and we find Serena apologizing to Amy for suspecting her of being the enemy, which she accepted. They ended their chat when they heard the door open. "Serena, Amy, hurry up or you'll be late for class." Thedon called from the doorway. "Alright, we'll be right there." Thedon left and Amy turned to Serena. "Does Thedon know about all this?"

"I don't know, but for now I think it best to keep him in the dark. If he found out and it got around that he knew, it could put him in more danger then he can handle."

"I understand, although he seems capable of handling himself just fine."

"I know what you mean. Despite all the money and prestige his family has, he still thinks of himself as a normal person."

Unknown to both of them, Thedon hung back for a few minutes and heard their conversation. 'Thank you for the vote of confidence girls, and I swear when the time comes, I will tell you everything.' He walked back to class with a smile on his face.


	6. Chapter 6

**Tick Tock Terror**

"Ohm, ohm" that was the most prominent sound heard in the Giscard Zen garden. Thedon was currently meditating in order to further strengthen his recently acquired psychic abilities. He so far managed to break them down into four categories, which he dubbed "Paths." The ability to read minds he called the path of the mind. His perception altering ability he put into the path of the body. His core psychokinetic powers he placed in the path of space. While his Temporal Fist ability he filed under the path of time. In addition to his training in Rokushiki, he now meditates at four A.M. for two and a half hours each morning, to keep his abilities in perfect balance. The loss of sleep didn't seem to bother him, since lately he was feeling restless.

His parents on the other hand were becoming rather concerned. Ever since coming here they noticed the significant changes in their son. Despite what most would think, and despite the Giscard family motto, the Giscard family always put family first before business. It was that way ever since Nathan's great grandfather took up partnership with Beumeister Chocolates to give his wife ant children a better life. They also consulted with the various psychologists they've met over the years. What they said was to let him get it out of his system and that any sort of interference could make things worse.

Since there was no school today, Thedon decided to spend a little bit more time in meditation. Afterwards, he went to the kitchen to get some breakfast. When he was finished, he thought about what to do with the rest of his day. 'Knowing Serena, she's probably introducing Amy to the various shopping malls and restaurants. I better find and make sure she doesn't spend herself into oblivion.' With that he was off. He soon found himself in the center of the shopping district. 'It'll take too long to find them the old fashioned way, and I can't risk using Geppou in such a crowded area.' He sighed in resignation as he began the tedious work of sorting through the thoughts of every person in the area. He finally caught a stray thought inside a book store. 'Odd, Amy must have dragged Serena here kicking and screaming. Why else would Serena go into a book store unless it was to buy a comic book?'

He decided to wait for a few minutes, and then saw Serena and Amy on their way out. "Hey, Serena, Amy!" The girls turned around and saw Thedon. "Hey, Thedon. What are you doing here?"

"Well I figured I'd keep an eye on you girls to make sure that Serena doesn't spend her family or herself into poverty. Given Serena's thought process is rather predictable; I figured you would either be here or at the arcade."

"But, how did you know we were here?"

"Call me psychic. Now come on, we have shopping to do, don't we?" Serena cheered at having her rich friend tagging along. They visited each and every shop, and Thedon, being the gentleman he is, paid for the more expensive purchases, which wasn't much considering his family was very well known and he was given a significant discount. They finally came to the front of a newly opened clock shop. Amy was rather tired, not being as experienced at mall crawling like Serena. Thedon however seemed to be holding up well despite having to carry a majority of the bags. After promising to rest after this one shop, Serena dragged Amy into the store with Thedon close behind.

They were greeted at the door by a woman in a red dress, whom Thedon guessed was the owner. "Come on in ladies and gentleman, and feel free to look around."

"Thank you ma'am."

The store had quite a large selection, from simple wrist-watches to more funny novelty clocks. They browsed the entire selection until Serena came across a desk clock that looked like a black cat. The owner appeared behind them and said that she would give them a ninety percent discount, which brought a smile to Serena's face. Thedon however was getting suspicious. Being the son of two corporate CEO's, he knew about the various nuances of basic business transaction. Cutting the price of a product by ninety percent at the drop of a hat threw up way too many red flags.

'What the hell, ninety percent? Either this woman knows nothing about conducting a business, or she's up to something that wouldn't sit right with the authorities.' He was about to read her mind, which he called a Cortex scan, when Serena broke into tears. She apparently didn't have enough money to buy the clock, so she turned to Thedon. "Thedon, I seem to be a little short, could you be a dear and buy this for me?"

"Sorry, Serena, I don't carry a large amount of money with me at all times, and I used up what I had paying for your other purchases, so no dice."

"You're joking right? Don't you have some way of getting more?"

"Serena, think about it. I'm still in junior high school. What parent in their right mind would give a junior high school student access to that kind of money? My family may be well off, but they aren't stupid."

After some pouting and complaining, the group made their way to their respective homes. Serena's mother surprised her by buying the cat shaped clock. She set it up, much to Luna's dismay, and went to bed. However, when the clock struck midnight, an eerie glow emanated from its face. Luna was awoken by this and became worried.

Meanwhile, Thedon was also fast asleep, although he was having a different sort of dream. He found himself seated at a round conference table, around which sat numerous seats. Almost all of them were empty except for three. In one chair sat an individual clad in red Grecian armor, in the next chair sat someone who looked like an old dojo master, and in the last seat was what one would expect an alien from an old movie to look like.

"Someone mind telling me what is going on here?"

"This is a meeting between your past selves, Thedon."

"Care to elaborate on that, Solaris?"

"Well, I thought it was about time we met face to face instead of just thought to thought. I also figured you could use this time to acquaint yourself with the other lives from which you draw your power." Solaris points to the old man. "That guy is Master Ro Ku Shi, creator of the Rokushiki fighting style," he then pointed to the alien, "and this is Cryptosporidium 138, first and last known user of the temporal fist and member of the Furon Empire. He prefers to be called Crypto." Crypto then decided to say a few words. "Don't go expecting me to help you out of kindness, monkey. I don't even know how I got here in the first place."

"Is that so, Crypto? Well don't expect me to cower in fear just because you aren't human. Like it or not, you are stuck here, so get used to it." What followed soon after was an exchange of insults and hours of personal discussion. After what felt like numerous hours of discussion, Thedon soon woke up to another day unaware of the odd happenings that would await him. He went through his morning routine and training regiment before grabbing some breakfast and heading out.

On his way to school he met up with Amy and decided to go with her to get Serena. However when they got there, "Huh, what do you mean that Serena already left? Are you sure?"

"She said she wanted to get an early start, so she left."

"What the hell is she thinking; she won't get out of school any earlier no matter what time she gets there." They were almost knocked over as Serena's father went rushing out the door with a piece of toast in his mouth. Mrs. Tsukino then told them goodbye and shut the door. Thedon and Amy looked at each other. "Okay, something here isn't right with the natural order. I'm half expecting to look up and see the sky flashing through the entire color spectrum."

"We might as well get to school. Hopefully there will be some sense of normalcy there."

"Good idea, I think I can feel my personal gravity field reversing itself."

Sadly the madness didn't stop there. No matter where they went, everyone seemed to be in some sort of big hurry over nothing. They then watched as an out of control bus went speeding into a lamp post. Luckily, no one was injured, unluckily the bus that crashed was owned by the Giscard Transport Company. The driver stuck his head out the window as the disgruntled passengers disembarked. Thedon felt a thorough tongue lashing was in order.

"Hey, driver, what the hell do you think you're doing? Is this the standard that my mother's company has sunk to? Don't you realize the amount of crap you could have gotten the entire Giscard family into with this piece of shit stunt? I will be reporting this to my mother and I can bet she'll want your license turned in by tomorrow unless you cool your heels and stop acting like a heel. Is that understood?" The driver didn't respond. "I said, IS THAT UNDERSTOOD?" Thedon all but shouted the last sentence, which caused the driver to nod rapidly. "Good, now let these people out and get the hell out of my sight." And that was exactly what he did.

Surprisingly, Serena was one of the passengers on the bus. Thedon's eyes widened as he saw this and swung his head in the direction the driver ran off in. "He's lucky he took my advice when he did, otherwise he would be digging his own grave right now." He turned around and saw that Serena was acting just like everyone that morning, like time was against her. "Is everyone's sense of time on vacation today? Because if they are I didn't get the memo." He turned to Amy, "I think it would be in our best interest to investigate that clock shop. You two go on ahead, I'll try to restore some semblance of order around here." Amy and Serena nodded and took off.

Thedon was using Geppou to watch from the skies, assessing the damage caused by this chaos. Sadly, it seemed to be contagious as soon the entire city was consumed in a false sense of urgency. Sadly, Crypto decided to comment on the situation. 'Not bad, although nothing compared to the havoc I wreaked in my day.'

'No one is talking to you Crypto, so keep your thoughts to yourself unless asked. I think now would be a good time to storm that clock shop.' He changed his direction and started jumping from roof to roof, running along wires and sliding on rails. He reached his destination to find Luna on the ground. "I'm probably going to regret this, but what happened and where are the girls?"

"Serena became impatient and decided to just rush in. She talked Amy into accompanying her then blew a hole in the front door. I tried to follow them but the hole sealed itself up before I could make it."

"Impatient girls, never had good thing come out of it. Fine, I'm going in. RISE O HEART OF THE SUN AND CLEANSE THE SHADOW BEFORE THEE!" He transformed into masked star and used Rankyaku to carve an opening. He made it to the central room only to find it deserted save for one person. "Tuxedo Mask, what a coincidence to find you here."

"We can trade insults later, now we need to find the scouts."

"Fine, you're right for once. I'm getting a strange feeling from that clock. Stand back and be amazed." He grabbed tuxedo mask by the shoulder and said, "Temporal Fist!" The entire room took a violet hue as time slowed to a stop. It also revealed a hidden portal on the giant clock. "Just as I suspected, a portal hidden in plain sight only revealed by chronological manipulation. Let us hurry, lest we find the scouts as old women." They both made it inside just as time resumed, closing the portal behind them.

They found themselves in some kind of pocket dimension dominated by the visage of melting or distorted clocks. Thedon turned to face north-northeast and took off running with tuxedo mask close behind. They found the girl pinned down by a woman with white skin in a red dress. She held what looked like a spear, which she was about to strike Sailor Moon with.

Ramua was feeling pleased with herself. So far her masters plan had worked flawlessly. Using the power of the negaverse, she would speed up time and double the energy output from the humans. Now she had the sailor scouts helpless before her, all nice and vulnerable. She was about to drain them, only to be interrupted. A warrior in red armor stood before her, blocking her spear with a gold staff. "Youma gutter trash, you will not touch either of them. Do you hear me?" He forced Ramua back and charged at her. "Shigan Shock!" He thrust his finger forward, which was charged with a large amount of static electricity. This forced Ramua back even more. "Insolent fool, you made a big mistake. In this world, time is mine to control. You have no hope of winning."

"You think you're the only one with the ability to control time? Not by a long shot, Temporal Fist!" To Ramua, he seemed to just disappear, only to reappear right in front of her. He gave her a devastating head-butt, augmented by the helmet he wore. She staggered back, confused as to how this was possible. "Where's all that bravado you displayed five seconds ago? Not feeling so tough now, are you? Scouts, let her have it." The scouts nodded and readied their attacks.

"MERCURY BUBBLE BLAST!"

The entire dimension became filled with a cold mist. Vision was obscured for both parties, but sailor moon still managed to aim her throw at the monster.

"MOON TIARA MAGIC!"

Ramua was struck and turned to dust. With her death, the shop disappeared leaving an empty lot. Serena and Amy turned to look at Luna, giving Thedon his chance to leave. However, he was stopped when Serena called his name. "Masked Star, can I ask you a favor?"

"That would depend on the nature of said favor. Ask, and I shall do what I can to uphold it."

"If you run into my friend Thedon, could you please not tell him about this? He is a sweet guy, and I don't want him worrying himself to death."

"That I can do, though you may be surprised with how much he already knows." Serena and Amy looked confused by this. "Do not worry yourselves; you will understand when the right time comes. I bid you farewell for now." He was gone in an instant by use of Soru.

Things were not so good in the Negaverse, as we join Jadeite getting chewed out by Queen Beryl for yet another failure. "You disappoint me yet again, Jadeite. So many promising opportunities for harvesting energy foiled or hindered by a bunch of human brats. My patience with you grows thin, failure will not be tolerated."

"I understand, Queen Beryl. I can assure you that this time I will not fail you. My latest idea is to exploit what humans call mass transport."

"Intriguing, continue Jadeite."

"You see, Queen Beryl, judging by my pasty failures, it's no longer safe to travel to the humans. So we shall bring the humans to us. By bringing them here, we won't be interrupted."

"What about the Sailor Scouts and this wild card of a human? Have you a plan to deal with them?"

"That's the beauty of it, my Queen. On the unlikely chance that they manage to find us, they will be so overwhelmed by the Negaforce that they won't be able to interfere. Then they can be drained of their energy just like any other human."

"Very well Jadeite, proceed with your plan. But know this, if you fail me this time then there will be severe consequences."

"I understand Queen Beryl."


	7. Chapter 7

**No Charm, No Choice**

The sun dawns on yet another day in Juuban. Thedon was finishing up his usual morning routine, and then made for the kitchen. He had been receiving some strange visions during his meditation, and he somehow felt that the Negaverse was involved. He was also paying attention to the local news regarding the recent rash of disappearances. He tried to conduct his own private investigation, yet turned up nothing. The only solid lead that was known was that the disappearances all happened around the Cherry Hill Shrine. His visions in particular seemed to revolve around a girl that he guessed was the shrine maiden. 'What could these visions mean, and how does that shrine maiden fit into it?'

He put these thoughts out of his head for now and walked out the door. As he prepared to leave, he heard a cawing sound behind him. He turned around and saw two crows perched on the roof of the front porch. This normally wouldn't bother him since some of his relatives were involved in animal breeding and husbandry programs all over the world, but these two particular crows kept visiting for some time. He somehow felt like they were trying to tell him something, but what it was he didn't know. Thedon simply grunted, not wanting to think about that now.

As Thedon made his way to meet up with Serena and Amy, he took note of the police cars heading in the direction of Cherry Hill. 'This clenches it, the next chance I get; I'm investigating that shrine myself. Busloads of people are disappearing, and the missing buses are all from my mother's company. It won't be long until people start suspecting my family.' The sound of Serena's voice brought him out of his musings. "Hey Thedon, over here!" Thedon made his way towards Serena. "Hey Serena, how are you today?"

"I'm fine; did you notice those police cars? They were heading for Cherry Hill Shrine."

"A bit hard for me not to, what with all the disappearances of late. All of those vanished buses belong to Giscard Transport Incorporated, and my mother has been losing sleep trying to calm everything down. She can't even walk outside the house without being swarmed by reporters and journalists asking all sorts of unfounded and unrealistic questions. Even the police have confronted her about it."

"Well, we were just talking about paying the shrine a visit. They supposedly sell good luck charms."

"You don't say, well I think I'll go with you. I might just find some clues to this whole debacle."

They made their way to the Cherry Hill shrine, and while Serena was fantasizing about finally getting a boyfriend with the help of one of the good luck charms they sell, Thedon took notice of the flock of crows that were perched on the arch before the shrine. Two crows in particular made eye contact with Thedon, which held him back while Serena went on ahead. They stared at each other for several minutes as if sizing up the other, before the crows bowed and took off. "Strange, they don't normally do that to strangers." Thedon turned around and saw a girl about Serena's age with long black hair and wearing a priestess robe. "Normally they just sit there and watch as people go by. I'm Raye Hino, by the way. Can I ask who you might be? We don't often have guys coming here."

"I find that hard to believe with such a pretty girl like you hanging around. My name is Thedon Giscard, son of Nathan and Julie Giscard and heir to the Giscard conglomerate." Raye blushed at the compliment and gasped when he introduced himself. "Now, now, no need to get yourself all worked up. I'm not here to cause any trouble. But I'm sure you're aware of the recent vanishings of late?" Raye nodded in confusion at where this chat was going. "Well, the buses involved in these incidents were leased from my mother's company, and these recent happenings have been driving her insane. Now I mean no offense, nor am I pointing fingers at anyone, but I have to ask, do you know anything at all about these incidents?"

Raye was about to answer when she heard a ruckus coming from the shrine. "I'm really sorry, but I have to go before Grandpa gets himself into trouble."

"I understand, and from what I can see, the ruckus he's raising is over my friend." They both walked the short distance to the shrine and Raye started scolding her grandfather. Thedon went over to Serena and the other girls. "Serena, has he been bothering you at all?"

"Not really, no. I think he just mistook us for another group that just left."

Thedon was about to respond when he suddenly felt a pulse of evil energy. Raye and the crows seemed to notice it as well. 'I knew it; Jadeite must be here somewhere, but where?' Raye however, to a more direct action and brought forth a paper talisman and after chanting a prayer applied it to…Serena's forehead, which knocked her out. Raye started apologizing profusely upon realizing her mistake as Thedon rushed to her side. "Let's get her inside; she should wake up in a few minutes or so."

After several minutes Serena was still out cold. A blonde haired man came by with some bandages before leaving soon after. Molly made a remark about how attractive he was, which brought Serena back to consciousness and sitting bolt upright, looking around wildly for said cute guy. "Really Serena, I'm hurt. And here I thought we had something special going." Serena looked at Thedon with an annoyed expression. "We're just friends, Thedon. You know that." Thedon simply looked back at her with a look of mock disappointment and a smirk.

Everyone's attention was drawn to the door as it was flung open, revealing a middle aged woman, who started shouting at Raye about where her daughter was. Raye was about to defend herself, but Thedon beat her to it. "Ma'am I don't know who you are, but I do NOT appreciate when people come barging into someone's home without an invitation. Besides, you think you're the only one who lost someone recently? There are families all over Juuban who have lost someone to these recent troubles. I find it rude and absolutely disgusting that you would come into this shrine and start making unreasonable demands."

"Hey, you're that Giscard boy. Trying to cover up your family's mistake you insolent brat?"

"HOW DARE YOU INSULT ME, MY FAMILY, AND MY ENTIRE BLOODLINE WITH SUCH BULLSHIT ACCUSATIONS! These disappearances have my family just as worried as anyone else, and we have absolutely NOTHING to do with these problems. If you're in that much of a rush to find your daughter, then take your complaint to the police, and don't waste your time with accusing a shrine maiden of something she couldn't have done. Now get out of my sight and out of this shrine." The woman left in a rush, surprised and scared by Thedon's outburst. Thedon took a moment to reign in his temper.

"The nerve of some people. My apologies for that little tirade. My family has been running an honorable business since the late 80's. They ran into problems, yes; but they did everything in their power to solve said problems instead of pushing the blame on someone else. I'll see you girls later; I need to take a walk." Serena and Raye stared at Thedon as he left, both with a light blush on their faces for different reasons.

Thedon soon found himself in the forest near the shrine, and started attacking the various trees in anger. He didn't use his Rokushiki, or he would have been cited for deforestation. Again and again he attacked the trees, yet his anger never lessened; it only seemed to grow with every hit. He finally calmed himself down several hours later; his fists were bloody and full of splinters while the trees were covered by spots of blood.

Unknown to Thedon, Raye was watching the whole thing. She had grown concerned by his sudden departure, but returned to her duties. She heard the sounds of someone hitting something and decided to investigate. That was when she came across Thedon venting his anger of the trees. She started shedding tears, trying to imagine the pain he was going through. She turned back only to find him gone.

"You know, it's considered rude to spy on people."

Raye jumped in surprise as she found Thedon right behind her. She never saw him move, didn't hear a sound as he approached, nor did she sense his presence. She took a few minutes to collect herself before responding.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to intrude. I heard some noises over here and thought something bad was happening, so I decided to investigate."

"No harm done, then. Sorry if I worried you earlier. Having someone just blatantly insulting my family enrages me like nothing else. Even before I started school I was known to be rather violent at times. My family has a history that goes back to even before the founding of America, and there were no shortages of hecklers in that time. But I don't want to bore you with my family's history, so I should be going."

"Are you sure? You want me to bandage your hands before you go?"

"No, I don't want to intrude any more then I have." This started a small argument consisting of Raye insisting on dressing his wounds and Thedon trying to decline. Sadly, he was overruled when Raye took hold of his arms and dragged him back to the temple. On the way there, they passed Jed, whom Raye said was a recently hired caretaker for the shrine. Thedon, however, had other ideas as to who he was. 'You'd think he would try to find a better alias since the police know his name. A little character dissection for later in my schedule.'

We now find Thedon and Raye sitting in the temple living area. Raye was busy cleaning the blood off of Thedon's hands along with removing any splinters she could find. Thedon looked over and saw, to his surprise, two crows. "Raye, not to be rude or anything but I have to ask. Why are there two crows in here with you?"

"You mean Diemos and Phobos? When I was just starting out as a priestess, I found an abandoned nest with two eggs in it. I took care of those eggs and they hatched into a pair of crow chicks. They've been my physical and spiritual guardians ever since."

"Interesting, believe it or not I think those two have been paying me a visit for the past few days." They continued with some small talk for a couple hours until his hands were bandaged, by which time it was mid-afternoon. After saying goodbye, he made his way home using his usual method of transport, which he dubbed the Kamisori. He took notice of a large group of girls waiting at a bus stop, all of whom had one of those lucky charms from the Cherry Hill shrine. He touched down on a nearby rooftop and watched as a bus pulled up. He also watched as Amy and Luna attempted to coerce Serena onto the bus unsuccessfully. He then watched as the bus full of girls rose into the air and disappeared through a black hole.

Thedon was stewing in his anger after seeing that. The Negaverse had the nerve to not only commit a mass kidnapping, but to steal his company property at the same time. 'This will not go unchallenged. They have insulted my family and now they owe me three pounds of flesh. I shall collect it tomorrow.' He then took off before he caused any property damage.

Thedon's anger was no less calmed the next morning. His vision was outlined in red and his knuckles where white from the pressure of his fists. He came across Amy and his anger was briefly forgotten. "Amy, what's wrong?"

"Thedon, Serena and Luna were taken by the bus."

"What do you mean, "Taken by the bus?""

"Yesterday we decided to investigate the rumors of the vanishing bus and found out it was true. I tried to get Serena on the bus, but she was too scared. I just saw her and Luna board the same bus, and now they're gone."

She finished her story and the anger in Thedon turned into a raging inferno. "Amy, I want you to get to somewhere safe. I'll take care of this." He was gone before Amy could ask any questions. His anger fueled his legs as he ran full tilt toward the shrine. He got there just in time to watch as Jadeite opened another black hole, which sucked Raye and the two crows in.

"Jadeite, you son of a bitch, this time you crossed the line. You owe me several pounds of flesh, which I will take great pleasure in stripping from your worthless hide."

"Oh really, and what of the girls taken by the buses? Will you forsake them in order to exact your revenge?" Sadly he was right. Thedon couldn't, in good conscience, leave those girls to rot for his own selfish reasons. Yet he couldn't leave without giving Jadeite some form of punishment. So he activated Temporal Fist, landed numerous kicks and punches on Jadeites immobile person, transformed into the Masked Star, and dashed through the black hole. His temporal fist ended when he was gone and Jadeite folded over in pain.

He shot out of the portal into a strange looking pocket dimension. He looked down and saw Sailor Moon confronting a Youma that looked like a failed attempt at combining human and reptilian DNA. But what really drew his eyes to the standoff was the fact that the monster had Raye in a chokehold. He let out a low growl and launched himself forward. Diemos and Phobos joined him in his charge, intent on protecting their mistress. "RELEASE HER YOU WORTHLESS EXCUSE FOR A HANDBAG!" The monster looked in his direction only to receive a boot to the face. The impact caused her to release Raye, who ran to Sailor Moon and Luna.

The monster got to its feet and stared in annoyance at Thedon. Although her master had warned her about his possible interference, she thought he was exaggerating in his description of this person's abilities. Now though, it seemed like he left more out in his explanation than expected. Her musings were cut short as she had to dodge several projectile attacks. "Hold still you worthless, cold-blooded coward! Rankyaku Tengu Claw!" He launched another projectile, which took the shape of a bird's talon.

While Thedon was attacking the monster, Raye made her way to Sailor Moon and Luna. A brief exchange of words followed which led to Luna revealing to her that she was Sailor Mars. Luna then gave her a rod like Amy's, the only difference was that while Amy's was blue, hers was red. The sound of the fight drew their attention to the fight between Thedon and the monster. "Shouldn't we do something to help him?" Rye got an answer, but not from where she expected.

"If you would be so kind as to join this fight, I would appreciate it. After all, I don't want to steal your glory." Serena was the first to recover and launched her attack.

"MOON TIARA MAGIC!"

Thedon jumped to the side, but so did the monster. This caused the disk of light to miss its target, and it was caught by the monster on the return trip. The tiara then became a band of light which tied the monster up. Thedon then proceeded to shout, "Sailor Mars, hurry up and transform!" Raye gave a brief nod, and after some brief instructions from Luna shouted.

"MARS POWER!"

Raye stood there transformed in a flash of fire, just as the monster managed to free itself. Thedon decided to make a comment then. "Well, that uniform certainly compliments you, though I have my doubts about the high heels being any help on the battlefield." Raye's face was slightly red at this comment. However the monster was tired of being ignored, so she decided to attack. This had the desired effect of drawing everyone's attention towards it. Raye was getting annoyed at this, and voiced her disapproval.

"You messed with the wrong people. MARS FIRE IGNITE!" A fireball shot forth in a spiral path from her fingertips in the monsters direction, and it was soon joined by another attack.

"RANKYAKU CLEAVING PHOENIX!" Thedon launched a Rankyaku which took the form of a phoenix as it raced alongside Raye's attack, and became a blazing tower of white fire upon impact which incinerated the monster, not even leaving ashes behind. Jadeite growled in anger as the ball of collected energy in his hand quickly faded into nothing, which caused him to wince as he had yet to heal from the sudden beat down given to him. But while the heroes were admiring their accomplishment, another problem reared its head, as addressed by Luna.

"Everyone, this is no time to celebrate, the portal back to Earth is closing." His caused Serena to descend into a panic as the portal continued to close. Even Thedon was coming up short for answers, which in turn caused him to become stressed. Meanwhile on the other side, Amy was still at the same spot that Thedon had found her at. She didn't know what to do or if she could do anything, so in desperation, she started praying to the planet she represented. Unseen by her, this caused a small blue light to flicker into life, which grew into a shift of light that in turn kept the portal from closing.

Serena was overjoyed by this. "It's Amy! She's keeping the portal open!"

"That a girl, Amy." This was all Thedon said, and then he heard another voice.

"Hey Sailor ladies, going my way?" They all turned to find Tuxedo Mask in the driver's seat of a bus.

"Now you show up, tuxedo boy? You are either very lazy or have the worst sense of timing known to existence as a whole."

"How many times are you going to try to insult me before you become bored, Masked Star?"

"As many times as it takes to convince you to either step in and help, or get the hell out of the way."

Serena, Luna, and Raye were becoming extremely annoyed by the argument being had by both of them. Luna finally decided to jump in.

"Really now, this no time for petty squabbles. There are innocent lives at stake here, so for now stop this bickering and let's go."

Thedon was the first to acknowledge this fact. With a brief nod, he jumped on a bus, and used his Psychokinetic powers to fly it back through the portal while towing the other two buses behind it. Amy was still in the road with tears on her face. She absently noted that the sun had long since set. She was about to leave when she noticed a dark spot in the sky. This spot grew wider by the second. When it stopped growing, she watched as the three missing buses drove through the hole. The Masked Star sat on the roof of the first bus in a meditative pose. They soon came to settle on the road.

"Attention ladies and gentlemen, we have now arrived at the last stop on this route. All passengers please disembark and don't forget to check the overhead compartments for personal items and carry-on bags. On behalf of Star Bus Inc., I thank you for riding with us and hope to see you again. Once again thank you and have a nice day." He jumped down from the bus after his spiel, followed shortly thereafter by Sailor Moon and Sailor Mars. Amy was simply overjoyed to see them return.

However, while the girls were distracted, Jadeite was observing from a nearby rooftop. He scowled as yet another one of his plans was not just beaten, but annihilated by a bunch of human children. He was about to leave when he sensed a presence behind him. He turned around and saw Masked Star standing there.

"That's another of your contrived schemes shot down. I expect your dear queen beryl won't be very pleased with you."

"Gloat while you can, because the next time we meet, you won't be so lucky."

"You took the words right out of my mouth. Although I doubt you'll get many more chances with your string of failures as of late. But before you go, here's a little parting gift."

A gold blade of energy grew from Thedon's staff, and he rushed forward. He swung out, and dug into Jadeites torso. "Solar Scythe." A large gash was left in his side, blood trickling through Jadeites fingers as he attempted to hold the wound closed. Jadeite grimaced in pain, silently cursing this human before him. He struggled to open a portal, but managed to do so and soon made his escape to the Negaverse.

With Jadeite gone, Thedon transformed out of his armor. He walked to the edge of the rooftop, seeing that Sailor Moon and Sailor Mars were arguing over whether or not he or Tuxedo masked loved her. The end result was her crying, although these tears didn't get Thedon so angry.

'Don't worry girls, no matter how long it takes, when the time is right, I shall give you all the love that you deserve. But that time is not now.' With that final thought, he made his exit with Kamisori.


	8. Chapter 8

**The Beastly Dream Guardian**

Thedon was having a nice stroll this morning, something he rarely got to enjoy in the past few days. Serena and Raye were at each other's throats constantly over the smallest of things, and being the gentleman he was, had to play peacekeeper. It nearly caused untold chaos when they visited his father's newest chocolate factory. Yet somehow in the midst of their fighting, they managed to set an all-time record for production. He was also glad Luna wasn't there at the time. He shuddered to think what might happen if she got hold of any amount of chocolate.

Setting those thoughts aside, he found himself in front of the Cherry Hill Shrine. Despite the girl's constant arguments, they somehow tolerate each other's presence enough to frequently gather here. He was about to enter when he heard a commotion inside, so he decided to hang back for a moment or two. 'Sounds like Raye and Serena are at it again, and over some trashy novel, no less. When will they ever learn?' Luna's voice cut through his musings, leading into a discussion on what they would do for the day. He decided then to make his presence known. Acting out of breath yet full of gusto, he strolled on in which surprised the three girls.

"Good morning all, I trust there haven't been any 'major' disasters in my absence?"

Amy was the first to recover, and replied, "Nothing to call the National Guard about, but there were a few spats now and again." Serena and Raye at least had the forethought to look away in embarrassment. Thedon decided to change the subject.

"Anyway, it seems that some of you are contracting cabin fever. So, how about we discuss what we do today before someone does something they might regret?"

"Well, we were just discussing a possible visit to Dreamland."

"Dreamland? You mean the new amusement park that just opened?"

"The very same. Rumor has it that 50 people have disappeared since the park opened."

"How fortuitous, Pops wanted me to go there today to oversee a charity event at the dream castle exhibit. He says it's to help advertise some new sweets that the R&D tasting labs created. Personally I think it's a waste of time, but as the heir apparent and future CEO of the company I'm obligated to oversee the event and ensure at least some modicum of success. The disappearances though, could warrant some sort of investigating. Sounds like cultist activity again."

Meanwhile in the Negaverse, Jadeite stood before Queen Beryl as she observed a holographic projection of the three sailor scouts and Masked Star. To say she was disappointed was like saying Mt. Everest was high, complete understatement. "So now we have three Sailor Scouts to deal with and this masked warrior. You have failed me, Jadeite."

"Please queen beryl, I have a plan." Was Jadeites response in an attempt to explain himself. Reluctantly, queen beryl bade him to continue.

"I've set a trap for them at a new amusement park, and placed a large order of sweets from the Giscard Corporation. If nothing else, I can guarantee that the Giscard boy will be there. He seems to always turn up where ever those Sailor scouts are, and seems to be of some importance to them. If the opportunity presents itself, we can capture the boy and use him as leverage to force the scouts to do our bidding. This would also ensure his families cooperation in our plans."

"An interesting plan, from what I've seen and gathered the Giscard family carries a great deal of influence. Their base workforce alone would provide us with ample energy. Very well, go ahead with your plan, but remember this Jadeite. If you fail, the punishment will be most severe."

"I understand, Queen Beryl."

Dreamland looked like any other amusement park, with various rides to excite the masses, numerous booths with carnival games, arcades for the more electronically inclined customers, and of course, various concession stands filled with various sweets and snacks to quell a customer's appetite. Thedon, Serena, Raye, Amy, and Luna were currently outside the main entrance, mainly due to a large number of reporters and journalists asking various questions about the disappearances. The security guard at the gate was addressing the crowd. "Ladies and Gentlemen please, there's no reason for this hysteria."

"But isn't it true? We heard that 50 people have disappeared since the park opened."

"Absolutely not, we wouldn't be open if that were true. Those are merely rumors started by our competition, they're jealous. Now, you're really going to have to go. You're ruining our business." With that, the guard pushed the entire crowd out of the front entrance. Luckily the group ducked to the side before they were caught in the mess. Thedon could just imagine the sound of a falling piano when the crowd hit the floor. 'Well, if the rumors don't shut them down, this little display of hospitality could very well bury them.'

The guard walked back into the park, ignoring the angry shouts of the press agents. Unbeknownst to them, the guard, being Jadeite in disguise, was musing to himself about the supposed inevitable success of his plan. 'This time I won't fail.' We now join the group as they walk through the park, Thedon having used his authority to get him and the girls in free of charge. Having remembered what he said that morning, Amy and Raye decided to include Thedon in their discussion, forcing Luna to remain quiet for the time being. Raye decided to ask the obvious question.

"So, where should we start our investigation?" Amy looked a little lost, so Thedon decided to respond.

"I'm not sure, amusement parks are large places, and as much as I don't want to admit it, they can be fertile grounds for kidnappers. One of my relatives used to own an amusement park before they retired, and as such whenever anyone went missing in the park, they were swarmed by police, press, and parents alike. It might be a good idea for us to split up for the time being." Thedon finally stopped to catch his breath, and then Amy noticed something.

"Hey, when was the last time we saw Serena?"

"I think it was by the Merry-go-round." Sure enough, when the group looked in that direction, they saw Serena riding one of the fake horses, laughing like a girl half her age. Raye went over to scold her for goofing off, went Thedon's cell phone went off. He answered it and after a few brief words, hung up.

"Amy, you and the others should go on without me. Apparently the loading staff needs my help in setting up the exhibit at dream castle. Tell Raye and Serena to meet me there when the event begins so we can go over what we found. And one more thing, if possible make sure those two don't cause too much trouble. It could put the cultists on alert."

"Alright, see you there."

Thedon found his way to Dream Castle, and was met out front by the Dream Princess, the mascot for the exhibit. She dressed like one would expect of a princess from a fairy tale, and held an apple in her hands.

"Well, if it isn't the sweet prince himself, Thedon Giscard. It's nice to see you."

"I would say the same thing if I wasn't preoccupied. So, I got a call saying that there was some sort of problem with the setup?"

"Nothing too serious, the staff just wanted to make sure that the right numbers of sweets were delivered."

"I know this place is called the Dream Castle, but is everyone here so spaced out? Did no one check the manifest? I've got three friends in the park right now and I have better things to do then simple delivery inventory."

The dream princess looked a bit offended for a second before re-schooling her expression. This human's attitude was starting to grate on her nerves. So she decided to act now. When no one was around, she exhaled a candy-red mist from her mouth, which made Thedon drowsy. Several minutes later, he was out cold. 'Master jadeite will be very pleased with me. Now to drain his energy and make sure he never wakes up again.'

Thedon's mind was frantic, silently scolding himself for letting his guard down. 'This is unacceptable. How the hell could I have been so blind? I should have suspected something but I didn't. I have to wake up somehow, I have to do something, but what can I do? I can't let Serena, Raye, or Amy become victims because of my carelessness.'

"Perhaps we could be of some help?" Thedon looked in the direction of a new voice to find two individuals. One was a young male with spikey red hair, black tank top shirt, knee length cargo shorts, and a green cloth around his forehead. The other was a pig-like creature with short limbs, long ears and tail, and a pendent around its neck. The male spoke again.

"So you're the one we have to work with? I'm not much impressed. The names Rumble by the way, professional treasure hunter and dream warrior. The creature next to me is Tumble, my Baku partner."

"Baku? As in the creatures that supposedly eat nightmares and turn them into pleasant dreams, those Baku?"

Tumble spoke next, "Well, I don't know about the eating dreams part, but that isn't important right now. What is important is that you need to wake up, and we can help you."

"How exactly can you help me?"

"With these." Ten objects flew towards him, nine colored orbs and the pendent from Tumble's neck.

"That pendent will allow you to enter the dream of anyone at will, and allow you to leave the dream at any time. The orbs can turn into nine holy dream relics wielded by dream warriors of the past, and each one has its own unique uses. We'll leave it to you to find out what those uses are since you're so pressed for time. The pendent has two commands keyed into it. To enter a dream, say Dream Passage Open, to exit a dream, simply say Dream Eject." With that, Thedon spoke the appropriate command, and was ejected back into consciousness.

While all of that was going on, the Dream Princess was feeling very pleased with herself. This human seemed to be a veritable wellspring of energy, with seemingly no end to its supply. At this rate, they wouldn't need those other humans since this one seemed to have an endless supply. A small movement from the "Sleeping" human drew her attention, but she just dismissed it and continued to drain him. That is, until with a quick movement, Thedon was on his feet, wide awake and holding a sword to her throat.

"That little stunt was a very bad idea. You just confirmed my suspicions, Negaverse gutter trash. I won't allow you to steal the lives of anymore innocent people." He would have ended her there, but she suddenly faded from his grasp and reappeared in a nearby doorway.

"Queen Beryl and master Jadeite were right about you, you are much stronger then you appear. But it makes no difference. In just a few hours' time the celebration will begin, and with the energy of those stupid humans combined with what I got from you will be more than enough to ensure Queen Beryl's return. This castle has one other unique feature; its halls make a very solid maze that no one has ever been able to escape. You'll never find your way out, and on the off chance that you do, it will be too late to do anything."

She disappeared again, and Thedon once again cursed himself for his stupidity. Surprisingly, it was Crypto who crashed his thoughts. 'What the hell are you doing, monkey? Don't just stand there with your thumbs in your ass, get moving. Or do you want those three girls of yours to become withered husks because of that dream broad?' Without any further verbal motivation, Thedon took off into the maze at Soru speeds, the sword in his hand leaving a gauge in the ground to serve as a path marker. He eventually came to an open window that faced the front of the park. He looked out and saw Serena and Raye at the castle entrance. He didn't see Amy with them and feared the worst. His eyes darted about frantically until they landed on a blank piece of scrap paper. He smoothed it out, got a pen out, and wrote a few brief words on it. He then folded it into a paper airplane and used his psychokinetic powers to guide it towards the girls. It landed in front of Luna, and then he continued on his search for the exit.

Serena, Raye, and Luna were standing in front of the Dream Castle. Luna had just told them that Amy went in ahead of them. Raye was getting some very unpleasant feelings from this place. After they had split up from Thedon, they went about searching the park on their own. Serena and Raye argued practically the entire time. They also had a rather unpleasant run in with Darian. Luna noticed a paper airplane in front of her. She noticed Thedon's scent on it and unfolded it.

_The Castle is a Trap._

Luna's eyes widened in horror at this. She rushed over to tell the girls, and they proceeded to transform and breach the castle. Thedon heard the explosion and knew that Sailor Moon and Sailor Mars were inside, which caused him to panic. 'Dammit, they should have gotten away when they had the chance. I have to help them, but this maze is difficult. It has to be rigged somehow. Okay, calm down and think. Unless my internal compass is off, I should be above the main foyer of the castle, which is where I need to be. Well, time to apply Occam's razor.' He took three Geppou jumps up, activated Tekkai, and let gravity do the rest.

Dream Dolly was standing over the sleeping forms of Sailor Moon and Sailor Mars, having caught them in her dream mist. She advanced on them only to stop as a loud crash from above rang out and pieces of concrete fell around her. When the dust cleared, Thedon stood there with a predatory glint in his eyes as he stared at her. His eyes darted to the two behind her, and then back to her.

"So, you managed to escape the maze. But I'm afraid you're too late. Soon, all three sailor scouts will be caught in an endless nightmare, and their energy will feed the negaverse and queen beryl."

"So you would think, but I have a new trick up my sleeve thanks to you. Prepare to embrace Hell, firewood! Dream Passage Open!" Thedon soon dissolved into a mass of small stars, which then shot toward the sleeping girls. He soon found himself in a forest clearing and saw as Raye seemed to be turning to stone.

"Oh no, I sure as hell am not going to lose them again! RISE OH HEART OF THE SUN, AND CLEANSE THE SHADOW BEFORE THEE!"

He was once more donned in his Grecian armor, and rushed forward. He went through a quick incantation and shouted, "CURSE OF THE GORGON'S, DISPELL!" Raye's hand was once more of flesh, and Thedon's presence as the masked star was made known. He stopped and stood in a battle position between the scouts and dream dolly.

"Whether this world is dream or waking, you shall not bring them harm while I draw breath. Sailor Moon, Sailor Mars, grab my hands and we shall leave this pathetic excuse of a nightmare. DREAM EJECT!" They soon became a cloud of stars, and then disappeared completely. Thedon soon rematerialized between the scouts and the monster, guarding them while they regained their senses. Dream Dolly, despite her naturally expressionless face, was mildly surprised by this humans apparent ability to enter and exit the dream world at will. Thedon gave the monster a mocking smile from beneath his helmet before turning to the girls.

"Moon, Mars, I'm going to have a little dance with the puppet over there. I want you two to find Mercury and be ready to strike on my signal." The two sailor scouts, despite knowing that Masked Star could take care of himself, were still worried about his safety, and the looks on their faces reflected this. If there was ever one thing that got Thedon's goat, it was a girl concerned for his safety.

"Are you sure? That mist of hers can cause some very powerful hallucinations." This came from Sailor Mars, since it appeared that even in the midst of a battle; Sailor Moon can still regress to the mentality of a star-struck fan girl. This caused her two allies to sweat-drop, and their enemy to develop an anger tick.

"I'm quite sure," Thedon reassured her. "She actually tried to harm a mutual friend of ours, and since he isn't here, I feel obligated to avenge him. You two just worry about finding Sailor Mercury, and I'll take care of the rest." Raye nodded, snapped Serena out of her daze, and then ran in the direction of the main foyer. After they were out of ear-shot, his attention returned to Dream Dolly, who made the first move by exhaling a massive cloud of her dream mist. Thedon was engulfed by it, and when it cleared, found himself in a large clearing surrounded by a thick forest. He scanned his new environment, decidedly unimpressed.

"Is this the best you can do? This is pathetic. Were I not purposely holding back, I would have destroyed you in a heartbeat. Now, what say you stop fooling around and give me a challenge, or do I simply crush you with my own bare hands?" Dream Dolly was growing tired of this human's constant insult, so she decided to change the setting. The environment around him rippled like water before it stabilized, revealing a massive collection of various monsters surrounding Thedon. The monsters varied greatly from the generic RPG enemies, to some of the truly demonic in appearance. Thedon merely smiled before he materialized his bow-staff. The battle that followed, although a daunting challenge to some, soon became pitched as one after another, slimes, goblins, gnomes, orcs, trolls, spiders, demons, and many others attempted to end Thedon's life, eventually fell in defeat. Thedon was sporting various bruises, cuts, burns, some broken bones, and coughing up a small amount of blood. Despite all of that, he stood triumphant.

Although his body was racked with fatigue, he dispelled Dream Dollies illusion. The battlefield faded to reveal the corridor of the Dream Castle. He could sense the Sailor scouts behind him, while Dream Dolly stood impassively in front of him. Without turning his head, he addressed the scouts.

"Girls, perfect timing, I was just about to finish up. Just one more thing for me to do, then she's all yours." Although Dream Dollies face remained unchanged, the tone in her voice was condescending.

"What more could you possibly do? You can barely hold yourself up."

"True, that battle took a lot out of me, but I can still do this."

He thrust his hand forward, and an invisible force of psychokinetic energy slammed into Dream Dolly. The forced propelled her into a wall and held her there. He held out his other hand, and Dream Dollies apple flew from her grasp into his. He then started jerking his free hand in random directions, slamming Dream Dolly into walls and the ceiling. After ten minutes of this game of psychokinetic pinball, he released her and stood aside.

"Well girls, I've had my fun, I leave the rest to you." As he finished his sentence, his vision started to blur, his legs give out, and he lost consciousness. This sight stirred something deep within the scouts, filling them with an unknown power fed be their sudden anger. Dream Dolly retrieved her apple, only to be attacked and defeated by the combined attacks of the sailor scouts. She was blinded and almost frozen by Mercury's bubble mist, paralyzed by a charm applied by Mars, then completely obliterated by a combined attack from Sailor Moon and Mars. The attack was so intense that not even dust remained.

In the Negaverse, the massive amount of energy collected soon vanished from Jadeites hand, causing him to curse the Sailor Scouts and the Giscard Boy. The castle soon disappeared in a cloud of dark energy, soon leaving the scouts and the former victims within an empty lot in the theme park. As the people woke up, the scouts searched for the Masked star, only to find him and the apple were nowhere to be found.

Unknown to the scouts or the other people, four pairs of eyes watched them from the nearby bushes. The eyes were soon revealed, belonging to four small figures which were vaguely bird-like and all different heights. The third smallest figure turned to the others.

"Good work men, the target was retrieved successfully and covertly." The speaker soon stepped into the light, revealing a penguin of all things.

"Before we commence phase two of this operation, we must wait to allow him to rest," the penguin then turned to the tallest shadow, revealing a tall, thin penguin, "Kowalski, keep a close eye on him and make sure he isn't disturbed. Also, he seemed rather insistent on retrieving that apple. Run some tests on it to determine its properties." The tall penguin, Kowalski, nodded in acknowledgement and saluted. The leader penguin then turned to the second tallest shadow, revealing a penguin with a scar on its face and a much broader body.

"Rico, you're on guard duty. Any unauthorized personal who intrude are to be eliminated on sight." Rico responded by coughing up a mobile turret and Dream Dollies apple. Rico then positioned himself over Thedon's unconscious form. Finally, the leader turned to the smallest shadow, showing a small, round penguin.

"Private, you're on lookout duty. Anything within twenty-five feet or less is to be reported to me at once." Private gave a quick salute and responded, "Aye, Skipper," before climbing to the top of the bushes to a cleverly hidden lookout post hidden amongst the leaves. The leader, Skipper, then turned to Thedon's unconscious body.

"Looks like there was something about those dreams of yours after all. Nine years of exhaustive research almost wasted until now. We may not have been able to help you then, but whatever this Negaverse is, we won't let them hurt you. We owe you that much for keeping our secret, and the secret of the entire zoo."

Meanwhile, within the deeps of his subconscious mind, Thedon was experience a crash far worse than any of those experienced in was younger years, and was in conference with Solaris, Master Ro Ku Shi, Crypto, and Rumble and Tumble.

"What exactly is going on? I feel like I'm having a sugar crash after a New Year's Eve party." Solaris answered in a slightly worried tone.

"I was afraid of this. The balance of power within you is out of whack."

"What do you mean by balance of power?"

"My powers, and by proxy yours, draw their strength from the love of and proximity to the sailor scouts. Each one embodies a different aspect of energy. Sadly, there are still two other scouts who haven't made themselves known, and as such their influence is tenuous at best and non-existent at the worst. There are five parts to the energy produced and stored within you. Sailor Mercury embodies the mental aspect of your powers any that primarily involve the mind or the minds of others. Sailor Mars embodies the spiritual aspect of your powers which are primarily associated with magic or other supernatural abilities. The currently absent Sailor Jupiter embodies the physical aspects which revolve around any sort of fighting styles or shape shifting. The absent Sailor Venus represents the emotional aspects which involve any powers that rely on certain feelings or moods to be effective. Finally, Sailor Moon embodies the force that binds those energies together in equal parts."

Solaris stopped to catch his breath before continuing. "This is conclusive proof that you truly love each of them, and any imbalance, like any relationship, can cause any number of catastrophic results." Through his exhaustion, Thedon responded with, "Then what exactly do you suggest? If I use any of me abilities without the persona of Masked Star fed by magic, I'd be painting a giant target on my back and the backs of my parents. Not to mention the distress that Serena and the girls will feel if I'm absent constantly."

Whilst Thedon was having his discussion, the penguins continued to watch over his unconscious body. Skipper was busy day-dreaming about the past nine years when Thedon would visit the zoo each day after school. He smiled, remembering all the fun times they had, especially how Thedon always managed to make Julian look like more of a fool then he already was. The sound of his name brought him out of his reverie. He saw Private sliding towards him with a sense of urgency.

"Skipper, we have an intruder, a black cat with a crescent moon on its forehead."

"At ease Private, I'll take care of this."

Luna was feeling ill at ease. After Thedon failed to meet up with Serena and the girls, they started fearing the worst. Luna volunteered to look for him, and after catching his scent, followed it to a row of shrubs. She heard some rustling of leaves and a hurried conversation before coming face to beak with a serious looking penguin.

"Who are you and why are you here? Identify yourself or risk being terminated."

"I would ask you the same questions. I'm Luna, and I'm looking for someone who was last seen in this area."

"This 'someone' wouldn't happen to be Thedon Giscard, would it?"

"That's his name; his friends are worried about him since he hasn't been seen."

A few minutes of silence followed before the penguin quickly darted his head about before gesturing Luna inside. She ended up following him down to a concrete bunker where three other penguins were busy doing other things. Then, she saw Thedon hooked up to various life monitoring machine, where a tall penguin was monitoring Thedon's life-signs. She froze in horror as a scared penguin in a turret pointed the gun barrel at her.

"Stand down, Rico, she's not an enemy. Please excuse Rico, he tend to get a little too enthusiastic about his duties. The tall one is Kowalski, the science officer and strategist. The small one at the Periscope is Private. I'm Skipper, leader of this unit." He just finished his introductions when Thedon let out a moan. Kowalski went into a frenzy, pushing buttons, pulling levers, and observing monitor readings.

Thedon slowly came back to consciousness, pushing through his exhaustion to focus his eyes. He heard several vaguely familiar voices, although they were muted. He finally regained his senses and saw that he was in a military bunker of some kind. A sudden voice drew his attention. "Skipper, hurry, he's coming to." 'Skipper? Why does that name sound familiar?' A door then slid open to reveal four penguins that he hadn't seen for nearly half a month.

"Skipper, Kowalski, Rico, Private, what are you four doing here? Speaking of which, where is 'here'?"

"Careful there, son, you're still a little exhausted from that battle earlier. And it's good to see you too. Welcome to our temporary mobile base of operations, specially commissioned to us by penguin HQ." Luna then stepped into view.

"Luna, what happened? Last thing I remember was tossing that monster around like a ragdoll before everything went black."

"Apparently you passing out caused the Sailor scouts to go into a rage. They pretty much annihilated the monster and afterword the entire castle disappeared. Serena and the others were afraid something bad happened to you when you didn't show up afterwards, so I decided to look for you. That's when I found this place, along with these four taking care of you."

"We managed to safely retrieve you from that castle just as the crowd was waking up. We even took the liberty of securing the apple held by that monster, Dream Dolly if I remember right."

"Then I guess you know what I am then?"

"Affirmative. To think that all this time such power was inside you."

"That still doesn't answer my other question. Why exactly are you here?" Skipper's mood seemed to sour a bit at this point.

"Things haven't been going well since you left. Not long after, the zoo fell on some hard times and was forced to close. The other animals were sold to some rich fur trader who had a hand in the black market animal trade. We did everything we could to find you with no success until we intercepted a transmission going from London to Tokyo. The signal wasn't very strong, but we just managed to make out your name along with a few others. We got here three days ago and were resting in this park when that castle appeared out of nowhere. We set up base and monitored the area, recording everything that stood out. We were going to pack up and move on when news of a Giscard sponsored event was mentioned. We watched as you and those three girls fought that monster, saw how you passed out, snuck by a person in a tuxedo and top hat and took you and that apple back here."

"How could I possibly help if everyone was already sold?"

"Turns out this business man is into auctioneering his acquisitions to the highest bidder. We figured that if you entered as one of them, and then outbid everyone else, we'd be able to stay with you. It seems the local fauna are more observant then many would give them credit for. With the entire zoo at your disposal, you'd have the perfect spy network." While Thedon saw the obvious advantage to this, other things took priority.


	9. Chapter 9

**Bruise Cruise, Tech Assault**

A week had gone by since the Dreamland incident, and Thedon was still recovering. After waking up briefly to meet some old friends of his and explain a few things, he slept for three days straight. The four penguin commandos watched over him day and night, while still keeping out of sight from Thedon's parents. Then, on midnight of the third night, he awoke from his slumber with exhaustion still hanging heavily upon him. He stayed awake for five minutes, during which he used his mental powers to transfer some schematics for Furon technology into Kowalski's mind.

Serena, Raye, Amy, and Luna were very concerned. Luna would visit each day, hoping for some kind of improvement in his condition. Serena was beside herself with worry. She stared intently at the classroom door every day, hoping to see him walk through. Amy continually found her mind wondering at random times about whether his health had improved. Raye used her fire readings on a daily basis, but finding nothing but exhaustion in his spirit.

He drifted in and out of consciousness for four days until finally waking up. The five days afterward were filled with dizzy spells, splitting headaches, passing out, and random pains in various body parts. This went on for two and a half weeks before he was well enough to attend school. Serena was overjoyed to see him in class, as was everyone else to a lesser degree. Of course, there were some people who would have been less than pleased to hear about his recovery. Jadeite was mauling over his latest failure, on both parts of his plan. The sailor scouts destroyed his monster, and the Giscard brat somehow escaped despite the massive amount of energy that was collected from him.

'How is it that this human can overcome us so easily? He may come from a rich family, but he's still a human.'

"One of these days, I'll be rid of you and those sailor brats."

While Jadeite ranted and raved about how to get rid of the scouts and Thedon, said heir was at home, going over some final blueprint drafts for the Furon weaponry with the science officer Kowalski. Since they were living in his house, the four penguin commandos made him their leader. It made sense, since if all went well he would soon legally own all the animals in the Midtown Zoo. Skipper still retained his rank, acting as leader when Thedon was absent. Said penguin was also closely monitoring the local and international airwaves, searching for anything that may be related to the Negaverse. Rico was put in charge of security, while Private was tasked with surveillance and recon. They were all stationed in their mobile base, which was hidden inside of Thedon's room for easy access.

"These plans seem to be in good order; I want you to get started on their construction at once. The Negaverse hasn't acted in almost a month and that can never be good for anyone." Thedon then turned to Skipper. "Skipper, anything to report?"

"Negatory, there's been no chatter about anything suspicious. Just a bunch of advertisements for a new couple's cruise that's just opened."

"Keep at it, and keep an ear out for anything out of place. Rico, how are those defenses coming along?" Rico responded with what most would consider senseless babbling, but having known Rico for a few years, he understood that the noises meant they were coming along well.

"Good, carry on and make sure they cover the entire mansion. You can't be too careful of any desperate attempts." Alarms from Private's station caught his attention.

"Thedon sir, your parents are 100 meters from your door and closing." The main surveillance monitor showed Thedon's parents, making their way to the door of his room. Thedon bid the penguin's farewell and left through the nearest hatch, which shot him out to land on his bed just as his parents opened the door.

"Mom, Dad, is there something wrong?"

"Thedon, your mother and I have been talking, and we think that you should take some time off. So we managed to get you some first class tickets to that new couple's cruise. Perhaps you could take one of your friends with you. Who knows, something good might happen." Nathan got a smack from his wife for that remark. After he told them he would accept, they left and he got to thinking.

'Something about this cruise doesn't seem right. Perhaps a little P.I. is in order.'

The next day, Thedon was having a casual stroll, something he dearly missed when he was bedridden from exhaustion. Kowalski had surprisingly managed to construct the Furon guns with little difficulty. He finished testing two of them so far, the Zap-O-Matic and the Destructo Ray, both of which he planned to take with him on the cruise in case things get dicey. He found Serena sulking in the park and being the gentleman he is, decided to lend her a shoulder to lean on.

"Serena, Luna, fancy seeing you two here. The sun is shining, the birds are singing, and the weather is fantastic, so tell me, why the long face?"

"Hey, Thedon. Well to answer your question, a small news stand was holding a contest with free tickets on the Sunset cruise being the first prize. I tried to win them and failed. I ran into Raye on the way out and she decided to try. She ended up winning the tickets and invited Amy to go with her instead of me."

"Really, well this happens to be your lucky day." Serena looked up confused. "What do you mean? How is it my lucky day?"

"My parents were concerned for my well-being and decided I needed a relaxing vacation. They got me two first class tickets for the same cruise. I'm sure you can see where this is going." Serena was practically salivating in excitement. "So, I was wondering if you would like to go with me?" The response was both expected and unexpected. Serena started cheering loudly while jumping in joy, which Thedon had expected. What he didn't expect was the quick but noticeable kiss on his cheek that she gave him before she started running around in happiness. 'Well, I'll take that as a yes, if nothing else.'

A few days later, the night of the cruise came. A large crowd of people were gathered around the entrance stairs to the ship, Amy and Raye being among them. Off to the side was another entryway for those who purchased first class tickets. Thedon was clad in a pair of khaki pants and a button-up white shirt underneath a beige coat which hung from his shoulders. Clipped to his waist were the compacted zap-o-matic and destructo ray, which were hidden by the coat. Serena simply wore a skirt and blouse combo with a casual jacket.

Luna had to sneak on since they didn't allow animals on board. She was joined by Private, who insisted on coming along to ensure Thedon's safety. He was equipped with a smaller version of the zap-o-matic which had a bayonet attached to the front. They darted among the various crates that were being loaded until coming to an open hatch reserved for the crew. The captain looked down over the crowd from the bridge, his first mate by his side. The captain was actually Jadeite, while the first mate was a monster named Thetis, who was known for being able to control water. They mused to themselves about how stupid the humans were and how they would gather a vast amount of energy. Their musings were interrupted by a crew member informing them that they were ready to leave.

The cruise was underway, and all the couples were in various areas enjoying the company of their significant other. Amy and Raye were strolling around the ship trying to get accustomed to the constant rocking. Serena was on the upper decks with Thedon who was enjoying the sea breeze. Although she had her doubts at first, Serena was actually enjoying herself. Thedon didn't act how she expected he would, he didn't talk about his family history, didn't brag about how he was better than everyone else, nor did he flaunt his money in an obnoxious manner. If she had to pick one downside, it was that he didn't have much confidence in himself.

While that was happening, Luna and Private were inspecting the ship and the crew looking for anything out of place. They had several close calls with various crew members and finally they hit pay dirt when they found the captain and first mate staring at a blue sphere floating in mid-air. Luna and Private looked at each other with shock in their eyes before turning back and finding the two gone.

"Luna, this isn't good, someone needs to tell the others about this at once."

"I'll go find Serena and the others; you find those two and keep tabs on them." They nodded to each other and Luna left, while Private slid in the other direction. He eventually found the captain and followed him from a safe distance. The captain and first mate eventually stopped to have a chat with Thedon himself. Private managed to get Thedon's attention as the captain was leaving.

"Private, what are you doing here?"

"I was ordered by Skipper to keep you safe. But that's not important right now, the captain and first mate are from the Negaverse. Everyone on this ship is in grave danger."

An announcement then came over the P.A. system saying that a special celebration was to take place in the ball room. Serena was about to get Thedon when she saw Luna.

"Luna, why are you here? I'm a little bust right now."

"That's not important right now. This whole cruise is a Negaverse scheme. We need to get to the ball room at once and find Raye and Amy."

Serena nodded and turned around. She got Thedon's attention and told him to go on ahead. He left with Private following him in the shadows. He made it to the ball room just before the doors were shut. He looked on as the captain addressed the crowd and the first mate transformed into a fish-like monster without a mouth or nose and started draining the energy out of the couples in the room. Not surprisingly, since they only designed it to drain energy from loving couples, Thedon, Raye and Amy were unaffected.

Having now revealed himself, Jadeite questioned Thetis on how she would deal with those who were still standing. He then saw Thedon and smirked.

"Thetis, you take care of the girls. I have a score to settle with that brat over there."

"As you wish, master Jadeite." The other members of the crew advanced on Amy and Raye, transforming into humanoid amphibious blobs. Raye tried cutting one in half with a folding chair, only to watch as the two halves regenerated into two different monsters. Thedon went to help them, only to have Jadeite stand in his way.

"I don't have the time or the patience to screw around with you right now, Jade boy. Get the hell out of my way."

"You've been nothing but a thorn in my side since you came here. Now it's time to settle the score. I've been preparing for this day, and your special attacks won't help you this time."

Thedon simply smirked before replying, "You rely on magic too much, you fool. Let's see how you fare against some cutting edge technology." Then, within the span of three seconds, he reached into his coated and withdrew a gun with numerous spots glowing from an internal source. He pulled the trigger and the gun fired a small mass of glowing gel that gave off an intense amount of heat. It missed, landed next to Jadeites foot, and exploded violently. Thedon was surprised by this, as the destructo ray is only supposed to fire rounds of napalm that would render the target to nothing but ash, but apparently Kowalski had made some modifications to the weapons design.

This caught Jadeite off guard and sent him into a wall. Thedon took advantage of this opening and withdrew the other gun, which gave off a blue light and ended in two prongs. He pulled the trigger and a bolt of electricity lanced out and hit one of the blob monsters. He kept the trigger held down until the charger ran out, which caused the bolt to dissipate, and the monster to dissolve into a smoking puddle of slime. He simply smiled and said, "High voltage indeed."

He made his way over to Jadeite, who was still trying to regain his bearings. When he did, he was staring directly into the barrel of the destructo ray gun. Thedon looked at him and said, "You feeling lucky, punk?" So absorbed in the moment was he that he didn't notice the tendril of water screaming towards him. Before it could hit him though, its caster was hit with a bolt from Privates weapon, which caused it to evaporate. This distraction allowed Jadeite to get an attack off, which seemed to hit. He smiled as Raye and Amy looked on in fear for their friend, only to find him suspended in the air by a small, double-thruster jetpack, which caused a complete flip in the respective crowd's moods.

Meanwhile, Luna and Serena finally made it to the ball room. Serena was about to transform when she saw Thedon, which caused her to hesitate. Luna however was annoyed by this.

"Serena, what are you doing? We need Sailor Moon."

"But Thedon's in there. What's he going to think if he sees me transform?"

"We have no time for petty fears. Besides, remember what Masked Star said, he's more open minded then we think. And besides that, he seems capable of taking care of himself. Now hurry up and transform!"

Serena sighed, gathered he courage and shouted, "MOON PRISM POWER!" The shout caught Thedon's attention and he watched as Serena transformed into Sailor moon. This actually gave him a measure of relief, since now he could drop the whole cultist excuse. She started her introduction only for Thetis to interrupt, which got her nothing but a face full of exploding napalm. "Has no one ever told you it's rude to interrupt a lady when she's talking? Now keep your non-existent mouth shut!" He then turned to Serena. "Please, feel free to carry on, milady." Serena blushed while Raye and Amy sweat-dropped slightly at this display. The two girls then decided that if Serena could trust Thedon enough to transform in front of him, then so could they.

"MARS POWER!"

"MERCURY POWER!"

Luckily for all involved, Jadeite hadn't seen them transform. Sailor Moon finished her introduction, and was promptly attacked by Thetis when she finished. Her resulting scream pushed Thedon into overdrive, and he raced to help her only to once again be stopped by Jadeite. "GET OUT OF MY WAY!" Thedon shouted and batted Jadeite aside with his guns. He flew to the broken skylight, and then turned to the other two scouts. "Mars, Mercury, I'll back up Sailor Moon, you two finish up these trash slimes and meet me out there." They both nodded and he flew out.

Private, meanwhile, had bourn witness to the whole thing up to when Thedon had flown out the broken skylight. He knew that Skipper would want to hear about this, but put that thought aside for now. He flipped a switch, which caused the bayonet to become electrified. He then started sliding around, slashing at the blobs until there were no more. He then stopped and met the gazes of the other two scouts. He could see the questioning look in their eyes, and decided to answer.

"The names Private, Private penguin of the penguin commandos, and loyal soldier to Thedon Giscard. Or, in plain English, I'm an ally. Now you two go on, I'll take care of distracting Jadeite." They nodded and left. Private turned to face Jadeite, who started to laugh. "A mere earth animal thinks he can match me? You truly have no understanding of just who you're dealing with."

Private simply looked at him with cold defiance. "I know very well who I'm dealing with. You're a homicidal maniac working for a force that shouldn't exist by murdering millions of innocent people. That's all I need to know about you and the force you serve, and those are reason enough to make sure you never see the light of day again." Private punctuated his point by firing of a lightning bolt from his gun, which threw Jadeite across the room. Jadeite got up and fired off a few spells, which Private managed to avoid.

Serena had just regained her footing as she landed. Thetis stood opposite her on the deck railing. She raised her arms and summoned two columns of water. She sent a tendril of water shooting at her. Serena tried to move, but she was rooted to the deck in fear. Just as the attack was about to hit her, Thedon grabbed her and flew to the side. Thedon and she made eye contact, and Thedon simply smiled. "I'll never abandon you or your friends, now let's fry some fish."

Thedon set her down drew his guns. A surface to air dog-fight ensued, with Thetis launching water projectiles at Thedon, only to have him dodge them or shoot them down. He returned fire and scored some hits. This exchange seemed to last for hours, and the ammo clip for the destructo ray eventually ran out.

"What the hell? Of all the times to tell me this, now has to be the worst. Fine, guess I'll just have to take my fish fried instead of boiled."

He was about to draw his zap-o-matic, but he suddenly felt himself falling. The jet pack had given out needed to recharge, which meant he went crashing to the deck. He land face down, groaning in pain next to Sailor Moon. Thetis laughed at this sudden turn of events, and shot both columns of water at the two. Despite Thedon's pleading for her to run, she refused to leave him.

"MERCURY BUBBLE BLAST!"

The two streams slowed to a halt as the freezing mist engulfed their caster. The mist also blocked her vision, which caused her to lose her concentration.

"MARS FIRE IGNITE!"

A fireball struck her, doing further damage. The mist dissipated while she was distracted, which gave Sailor Moon and Thedon a clear shot at her.

"MOON TIARA MAGIC!"

She tossed her attack at Thetis, while Thedon pointed his gun at it and fired. The resulting lightning bolt not only electrified the disk, but it also propelled it much faster. The combined attack hit, causing Thetis to dissolve into water. Thedon got to his feet and joined the scouts as they watch the waters change from choppy to calm. They were brought back to reality by the sound of Jadeite talking.

"I should have guessed. Even on a cruise ship in the middle of nowhere, you Sailor scouts and that rich brat always manage to mess things up."

Thedon turned around with an annoyed look on his face.

"You know, I've had just about enough of your flapping mouth. But for the sake of these girls, I'll endure it a little longer. Now, you're going to tell us who you work for and why you seem to think murdering hundreds of thousands of people is justified. Now talk before I rip your jaw off and shove it up your ass so far you'll be coughing up teeth for a month!" He punctuated his statement by pointing his zap-o-matic at Jadeite's face.

Jadeite simply gave an annoying smirk before saying, "Sorry, can't tell you. But you'll come to know soon enough." He conjured a small black hole in his hand and disappeared. He returned to the Negaverse only to be chewed out by Queen Beryl. With both him and Thetis gone, the ship became what it really was, a derelict vessel that should be in a naval junkyard. Private managed to find them and contacted the coast guard.

While the other couples were being escorted off the wreck, Serena, Raye, Amy, Luna, Thedon, and Private looked on from the upper deck. Serena sighed as she lamented the disaster this whole trip had been.

"Well, so much for that romantic cruise for two." Thedon tried to console her.

"Surely this whole thing wasn't a complete waste of time. I for one was enjoying myself before everything went south."

Raye decided to make her opinion known. "Well, maybe next time you should invite me on a cruise instead." This, unfortunately, started a fight between Serena and Raye, and Thedon was stuck playing the peace keeper. Private looked at Luna and Amy before asking, "Does this always happen?"

Amy answered with, "I would say no, but then I'd be lying." She took out a book while Luna sighed.


	10. Chapter 10

**Science vs. Sorcery, Jadeite's Last Stand**

Very few people would ever expect to have something good come out of a monster attack, yet Thedon couldn't help but think along those lines about now. Ever since that incident on the cruise ship, he felt much closer to Serena, and was relieved to finally drop the excuse of thinking the Negaverse was a cult. The public still had that mindset, but that was of little importance. The school rumor mill was working overtime with gossip about Thedon and Serena being a couple. While it annoyed him, he showed nothing but indifference to anyone looking for a rise out of him.

Things in the Negaverse, however, were far from pleasant for Jadeite. He stood before Queen Beryl as if he was on trial, like a convict awaiting his sentence. Queen Beryl started to speak.

"Jadeite, we of the Negaverse are pleased with the energy you have collected. However, you have made some mistakes."

"Queen Beryl, please let me explain."

"Silence, you have not only been beaten time and again by Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, and Sailor Mars, but also by a mere human with no magic at all. The Sailor Scouts would be understandable, but to be beaten by a normal human is an insult to the Negaforce!" Jadeite winced as she shouted that last part. His failures against Thedon Giscard had been a source of constant humiliation for him. He still had trouble accepting the fact that he was toyed with when they first met at the gym and had their entire operation exposed.

"However, I shall give you one last chance to redeem yourself. Destroy those sailor brats and that human upstart, or be condemned to sleep in eternal darkness for the rest of time itself. Remember that this is your last chance, do not fail me."

While Jadeite was being chewed out by Queen Beryl, Thedon was busy giving Kowalski a tongue lashing about his failure to inform him about the need for ammunition and the need for the jet pack to recharge. The problem with the ammunition wasn't the most urgent problem, since that would be sorted out by talking with Crypto and learning a new psychokinetic ability. The jet pack, however, got him a verbal lashing not just from Thedon, but from Skipper himself. Kowalski had spent nearly a week sleeplessly checking, double-checking, triple-checking, and even quadruple-checking the weapon and tech plans to see if this problem could be fixed. All he could come up with, unfortunately, was a method of extending the jet pack charge before it ran out and had to recharge.

During said week, the auction for the Midtown Zoo animals came, and Thedon managed to outbid on each one of them. He was now the owner of numerous exotic pets, all of which were as capable of speech and thought like the penguins were. In regards to the animal's diets, he made several calls to various relatives who owned farms and managed to establish a steady shipment of various foods to feed them. He made more calls to others who dealt with more specialized animal diets, and to find some hands to help care for them.

Finally after a long week of phone calls, conferences, negotiating, and interviews, Thedon finally had a chance to stop and relax. That is, until he heard the sound of sinister laughter coming from outside. He rushed to his window as did the four penguins. They watched as energy swirled in the sky, then a hologram of Jadeite appeared. The laughter stopped as Jadeite looked down upon the city.

"This is a challenge to Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, and Thedon Giscard. Meet me at the main runway at the airport at 1 o'clock tomorrow night, or else," Jadeite's eyes sparked red and spat a fireball on Juuban, causing it to burn like a dry forest. Thedon ground his teeth as he watched the scene unfold.

"You want to fight so badly, well fine, I accept. Whether the scouts appear or not is their own choice, but I SWEAR I will kick your ass and rip you apart for this stunt. DO YOU HEAR ME? I'LL KILL YOU!" He looked down and watched the fire fade away, meaning it was an illusion. Thedon's anger, however, had not lessened, and he was seeing nothing but red by the time Jadeite's image had disappeared.

Later that night, Thedon was meeting with Serena, Raye, Amy, and Luna to discuss what to do about Jadeite. Amy and Raye argued about whether to blindly charge in or come up with a plan. When Serena was asked for her opinion, she just gave a nervous laugh. Thedon, however, was still stewing in his rage and decided to make his opinion known.

"Plan or no plan, it doesn't matter to me. I'll rip Jadeite apart with my bare hands if I have to. Whatever you three decide, know that one way or another, Jadeite will die, and with the very meaning of pain embedded in his mind. I'd suggest we all get home and get some sleep, we'll need the energy for tomorrow night." He turned to leave, and punched a rock as he left. The girls watched as cracks slowly spread across the stone surface before it cracked in half.

Talk of Jadeite's message was all over the news. Some were calling it a hoax; others were blaming it on cult activity. Regardless, the police had closed off the airport in the hopes of preventing civilian casualties. Several of Thedon's classmates were talking about visiting the airport that night, but surprisingly it was Serena who tried to talk them out of it. Thedon agreed with her as did Mrs. Haruna, but things got a bit weird when Serena went off on a tangent about studying which ended with her crying and Thedon calming her down despite the still burning rage in his heart. His mood wasn't helped any when he and Serena had a run-in with Darien, causing her to cry again and making Thedon want to use him as target practice.

After school ended, Thedon was at a loss as to how to spend his time. Kowalski was making some final adjustments to the jet pack. He couldn't train in Rokushiki lest he risk another exhaustion attack without Sailor Jupiter. So, he started rooting around in his various possessions looking for something to distract himself. Being the son of two very wealthy families had meant he could afford many things that others could not. He searched and searched, until a dark red silk pouch caught his eye. A wax-sealed letter was next to the pouch, and was ominously addressed. He grabbed the letter, broke the seal, and started to read.

'_To Whom It May Concern, if you are reading this then I, Nicholas Flamell, have left this mortal plain. Within the silken pouch rests the results of my life's work, the powers of nature contained within gems along with the perfected Philosophers Stone. Should they find you worthy, they shall meld with your flesh and grant you the power over each force contained. I can only hope that these stones are wise in the choosing of their wielder, for I have seen many times the results of their misuse. May the forces of equality between light and dark guide you down the path of life. Signed the world's first and hopefully last great alchemist, Nicholas Flamell.'_

Thedon stared in astonishment at what he just read. If this letter was genuine, the power contained in this pouch could literally make or break the very planets themselves. Despite the clear advantage such power would give him, he was of conflicting opinions. On one hand, he could not only destroy Jadeite, but the entire Negaverse with this power. On the other hand, if he did so, he would be no different than the stereotypical rich kid who always took the easy way and didn't care about the consequences. He mulled it over in his head for as long as he dared before finally deciding against it. He put the pouch away and looked at a nearby clock to see that it was exactly midnight, one hour before the ensuing battle. He picked up his guns and the finished jet pack from Kowalski and made his way to the train station.

He arrived at the station and joined the girls. On the platform was a monorail car just sitting there. Serena tried to back out, but Raye and Amy pushed her in before going in themselves. Thedon brought up the rear and got in just as the doors closed. He sat down as the train started off, and went about checking his weapons. On his left hand was a simple-looking ring, which was actually a force field generator. This provided him with a form of armor that couldn't be seen, however it would give out after taking too many hits, then having to recharge its power cells before coming back online. He looked up and saw the girls all engrossed in their own conversations. His attention was drawn by Luna.

"Do you think Jadeite set a trap for us?"

"I wouldn't be surprised if he did. He must have really upset his superiors to challenge us directly. He's desperate, and nothing is more dangerous than a desperate animal. I do know one thing, one way or another, when I get my hands on him, it won't be over until one of us is dead. And woe be unto any underling that gets in my way." Luna and the other scouts were worried by this proclamation. Never the less, the train continued on.

They got to the airport to find it crawling with policemen. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary, but the entire group was on edge. Something about this whole scene didn't seem right, and that was proven not ten seconds later when several policemen appeared behind them and attacked. "Girls, look out!" was the only thing Thedon managed to say before they were upon them. He had to incapacitate at least four of them in order to open up an escape route.

"We don't have time to screw around here; we need to make for the runway now!" And so they did, Thedon buying them time by periodically stunning the pursuing cops with blast from his upgraded Zap-O-Matic. They got to the runway and were still pursued. The girls decided that enough was enough and stopped running. They faced their chasers and transformed. A visor then appeared over Mercury's eyes, and she open a compact computer.

Thedon was getting impatient and withdrew his destructo ray, ready to fire a blast of exploding napalm.

"Mercury, can I waste these guys or not?"

"Scans are showing that they aren't even real."

"That's all I want to know. Mars, what say you we light these walking candles and have ourselves a bonfire?"

"Thedon, you took the words right outta my mouth. MARS FIRE IGNITE!"

The fireball engulfed the false policemen, and the blaze was fed by several rounds of exploding napalm. The blaze died down to reveal a pile of ashes. That's when Jadeite decided to make his entrance.

"Sailor Moon, Sailor Mercury, Sailor Mars, and Thedon Giscard. It's a shame you're all so young, not having a chance to really enjoy your life." Sailor Moon and Sailor Mars got into a small argument after that, which Sailor Mercury broke up. Thedon simply let out a low chuckle that soon evolved into full laughter. This drew everyone's attention before he spoke.

"Three chances, Jadeite. You've had three chances to kill me and you blew every one of them. Even as I am now, fighting with a handicap, you still don't stand any chance of killing me. When I was young, I had a reputation for blindly lashing out at anyone who insulted me or my family, and you made a very big mistake by providing me with a justifiable target for all my stagnant anger, rage, and hatred. Now come do your worst, because I swear this will be the last time we meet on the mortal plain."

Jadeite obliged him by focusing his magic on a nearby jet, causing it to face them and start chasing them. Thedon simply activated his jet pack, but the Sailor scouts weren't so lucky. He wanted to destroy the jet, but he feared that the scouts would get caught in the resulting explosion. A second jet started chasing the girls and chased them into a corner. Their cries were kicking his protective instincts into overdrive, while Jadeite's laughter was grating at his self-control and fueling the fires of his rage.

Jadeite was having a field day. He had the Sailor Scouts on the run, he backed them into a corner, and the human upstart couldn't figure out what to do. He took this chance and shot some magic at Thedon's back, which he didn't even try to dodge. It struck his force field, yet the force was strong enough to push him away some. That was when things started going downhill. Jadeite was hit with an oppressive force powerful enough to cancel his magic on the jets. He found that breathing was becoming more difficult, and every instinct was telling him to run. Thedon turned to face him, and the sight would be forever engraved in his nightmares.

Thedon's eyes were just red slots, with tears of blood streaming down his face, which seemed to take on the very image of death itself. He then began to speak, and it sounded like one thousand voices talking at once.

"Jadeite, you son of a bitch, now you have signed your own death warrant. I told you that I would tear you apart with me bare hands if need be, and that is exactly what I will do. I will drag you to hell, kicking and screaming, and toss you into the burning abyss myself. DO YOU HEAR ME? I'LL PAINT THIS WHOLE RUNWAY WITH YOUR BLOOD!"

What followed could only be described as a scene of absolute savagery. It was said that uncontrolled emotions are the bane of every man, even more so with those on the negative end of the spectrum. But to willingly provoke one who displays such emotions, could be likened to standing in the center of a natural disaster. Jadeite was finding this out first hand as Thedon had descended into a berserker state with his sights locked on him. Thedon was attacking him like a man possessed by a demon, and Jadeite was doing all he could just to dodge his attacks.

Countless blasts of magic were either dodged or shrugged off entirely. A single strike opened holes in whatever surface they struck. His speed had risen to such a level that he seemed to phase through everything. The only comfort was that he hadn't used those guns. Jadeite stopped to catch his breath, which proved to be a mistake as Thedon grabbed the back of his head, slammed it repeatedly against the concrete roof, and then tossed him down to the ground. Jadeite bounced as he slid across the tarmac, leaving a gouge along the ground as he continued to slide.

Thedon let out an almost demonic sounding roar before lumping off the roof, falling at least 40 feet, landed on his feet, and took off running full speed in Jadeite's direction. Thedon stopped short of Jadeite because a rose was embedded at his feet. His rage subsided a bit and he looked in the direction the rose had come from. There stood Tuxedo Mask, which annoyed Thedon but didn't enrage him.

"Thedon, you have to control your anger. Letting your emotions control you will make you no better than the servants of the Negaverse."

"You're one to talk, Tuxedo Mask. Where were you when the scouts were being attacked by jets? Where were you when we were ambushed by false policemen? Nowhere to be found, that's where you were. And now you have the nerve to show up and stop me just as I'm about to send this piece of trash to hell. I believe the Masked Star said it before, so now I'll say it again, if you really care about the Sailor Scouts, either take more direct action in helping them or stay out of the way. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some unfinished business with the trash in the gutter." He turned back to Jadeite only to find him gone. He looked up and saw him, surrounded by a pale aura of magic energy. Whether said magic was healing him, or he was more durable then he looked was uncertain, but Jadeite was sporting only bruises and scratches even after being tossed around by a berserker Thedon.

"I'll admit that little display caught me off guard, but it won't happen again. I refuse to let met myself be beaten by a group of children, especially by a mere human child with nothing special but more money than common sense."

"So you think I have nothing special to show for myself? Remember what happened the last time you overlooked my skill with weapons? Why don't you ask your friend Thetis? Oh, that's right; you can't because she was destroyed by Sailor Moon and me. Arguing with you any further is pointless. Hey girls, how about you take a crack at him while I take five?"

Mercury and Mars were more than eager to accept his offer, but Sailor Moon was still suffering from cold feet. She tried to stammer out an excuse and almost fell off the runway, but Thedon managed to grab hold of her and she regained her balance.

"I understand your fear, Sailor Moon. But remember what I told you on that ship. No matter what happens, I will never abandon you or your friends. You had faith in me when you revealed who you really were, so I have faith in you to do not just the right thing, but to do what must be done. Now go out there and show Jadeite what it means to be a champion of Justice." He ended his pep talk by placing a light kiss on her forehead. It was a touching scene, until Jadeite interrupted.

"How sickening, emotions such as those have no place on the field of battle. You humans place so much stock in helping each other to the point of risking your lives over nothing. Well let's see if your so called faith can protect you now." He used his magic to hurl a chunk of concrete at Sailor Moon, who was frozen in fear. Thedon pushed her out of the way and took the projectile square in the chest. His force field blunted most of the damage to prevent any fatal injury, but the force was still enough to hurt him and push him over the edge of the runway.

All three scouts ran to the edge, watching in horror as Thedon plummeted to the water below. The runway was luckily built in such a way as to end at the seaside, but being weighed down and injured as he was along with the sheer height of the drop didn't help improve his chances of survival. Mars and Mercury were on the verge of tears, whereas Sailor Moon was well past that point, tears spilling down her face in cascades. Even Tuxedo Mask had a frown on his face, he may not have gotten along with him, but Thedon was still a comrade in arms and a friend.

Jadeite, however, was relishing the fact that he had apparently done away with the upstart human who caused him so much grief. He let out a series of echoing, sinister laughs as he observed their sorrow. "How pathetic, even after all that talk about killing me he still had no chance against me. But don't be too upset, you'll all be joining him soon enough. Out of all of you, he was the strongest opponent I have fought in a long time, and with him gone, none of you can even hope to stop me."

Jadeite retook control of the jets with his magic, and set about once again trying to run them over. Tuxedo Mask attempted to stop him, but soon he too was subjected to a supposedly watery grave. This proved to be the last straw for the scouts, who decided to turn and fight. Mercury started with her attack.

"MERCURY BUBBLE BLAST!"

The mist engulfed both them and Jadeite, and the jets slowed to a stop. Jadeite struggled to see through the mist, and not long after he found Sailor Mercury. While his back was turned, Sailor Mars managed to apply a paper charm to his back. This caused Jadeite's magic to backfire, and the jets started chasing him through the mist. He had no idea how this was happening, so he did the only thing he could, he ran like the demons of hell were nipping at his heels. He then came face to face with all three sailor scouts, and his eyes were wide with disbelief and confusion. "How, how can you do this to me?"

Sailor Mars: "You use your magic to cause nothing but sorrow and pain. You got what you deserved."

Sailor Mercury: "That's right, you've caused nothing but trouble and now you face your punishment."

Sailor Moon: "How fitting to be caught in your own trap. Now on behalf of the Moon and in memory of Thedon, I will punish you."

"MOON TIARA MAGIC!"

Jadeite dodged the attack, only to be run over by the jet behind him. He screamed as he was crushed and only just managed to transport himself back to the Negaverse. The jets soon slowed to a stop on their own, and the scouts ran to the water's edge.

Sailor Mars: "I can't believe they're both gone."

Sailor Mercury: "How are we going to explain this to Thedon's parents, or the penguins for that matter?"

Sailor Moon: "Thedon, Tuxedo Mask,"

Luna: "It was never meant to be, even after all this. We'll just have to learn to fight without them, and let their example inspire us to do better."

"I'm glad you all were worried about us." They spun around and saw Tuxedo Mask with Thedon's battered and bruised body in his arms. Although it was difficult to notice from where they stood, the small twitches and slight rise and fall of his chest showed that he was still alive. The scouts were absolutely overjoyed at this sight. Tuxedo Mask placed Thedon on the ground, the slight movement stirring him from unconsciousness. He sat up slowly and was dog-piled by the girls. Although he was enjoying this attention, he was still sore and could tell he had some broken bones.

Thedon looked up and smiled at Tuxedo Mask. "Thanks, I can honestly say you saved my life. I still don't agree with your overly passive approach when it comes to fighting, but you must have your reasons as I have mine. So tell us, if you would be so kind, who are you really, and how do you always know when to jump in?"

Tuxedo Mask simply chuckled. "Those, I'm afraid, shall remain a secret for now. I can see you truly care about the scouts, keep them close to you. And be sure to keep your temper in check, I do not relish the thought of having to end you because you gave into your hatred and rage." This caused Thedon to laugh, which in turn caused everyone else to start laughing.

Things were less cheerful in Jadeite's world, as he appeared battered, bruised, and beaten before Queen Beryl, who wore a look of sever disappointment.

"You have failed me for the last time, Jadeite. Not only do the Sailor scouts still live, but so too does that infernal human!"

"That can't be possible, Queen Beryl. I saw him fall to his death."

"Then how do you explain this?" Queen Beryl displayed an image of the Sailor Scouts helping the still living, if heavily injured, Thedon back to his home. "As you can plainly see, Jadeite, the Giscard child is still alive. This was your last chance, and you failed. As punishment, I condemn you to eternal sleep in the endless void." Jadeite tried to save himself by saying that he knew who the sailor scouts really were, but Queen Beryl would hear none of it. A blast of magic encased Jadeite in crystal, which then disappeared to who knows where.

"Let Jadeite's fate be a warning to you all. Further failures will not be tolerated. Nephrite, I entrust you with the task of finishing what Jadeite could not." Although standing in shadows, Nephrite could be seen with the same kind of clothing as Jadeite, only with longer hair in a shade of red, giving him a more sophisticated look. "Jadeite was a nothing but a fool. I will not repeat his mistakes."


	11. Chapter 11

**Terror on the Tennis Court**

The sun rises yet again upon the Giscard estate. A month has passed since Jadeite was beaten, and Thedon was finally due to have his arm and leg casts removed. His rate of healing was simply astounding. The doctors were completely stumped as to how someone could heal so quickly. The fact that he was alive, let alone conscious, when he was brought in was considered a miracle in itself. He stayed in the hospital for one week before being allowed to return home. During that time, Serena, Amy, and Raye visited him every day after school, which brought a smile to his face.

When he got home he rarely left his room, spending most of his time either asleep or conversing with the penguin commandos. Kowalski, when he wasn't checking Thedon's vitals, busied himself by studying the various blueprints for the Furon tech, all the while thinking up new ideas and variations, which he would build and allow Rico to test. Luna was often in attendance for these various tests, often times getting a chuckle out of watching the penguins antics when they weren't blowing things to oblivion and back.

However, while Thedon recovered, the Negaverse plotted. Queen Beryl was meeting with the second of her four generals, a man with long, reddish-brown hair, pretty-boy looks, and the same uniform as Jadeite. His name is Nephrite, and he had what he thought a fool-proof plan.

"Jadeite failed because he tried to collect energy from too many people at once. I can gather more energy from one person then Jadeite could from a hundred." While she outwardly showed no interest, Beryl was curious as to how this could be done.

"And how do you intend to accomplish this?"

"Despite what they might think, the human race is ruled by the movement of the stars throughout the heavens, and each human lives accordingly to a set rhythm unique to them. There is a moment in every human's lives when their energy rises to its highest level." Nephrite was interrupted by a shrill laugh coming from a blonde woman. She wore the same uniform as Jadeite and Nephrite, marking her as another of the four generals.

"You seem pretty sure of yourself."

"Go away, Zoicite, this isn't your affair."

"You think you can succeed where Jadeite failed? Don't forget about that one human that gave him so much trouble."

"Back off, I'll deal with him when the stars are properly placed. Not even he is immune to the fate set upon him by the stars. I will find these humans at the moment where their energy is at its highest, and then I shall claim it for the Negaforce."

"Bravo, you sound oh so grand and noble, just like Jadeite. Try not to end up like him, lest you find yourself being toyed with like he was." Zoicite then disappeared in a swirl of flower petals, after which Beryl gave the okay to Nephrite to proceed. He proceeded to use his magic to manifest an illusion of a mist filled forest surrounding a slightly run-down cathedral-like mansion. Nephrite stood within, gazing at a projection of the galaxy complete with every star and constellation.

"Everything is ruled by the stars. There is the power of the universe; I will use that power to find those humans as they reach their maximum energy potential." He looked up at the very center of the projection, which flashed several times before shooting a beam of light into Nephrite's forehead.

"I call upon the great archer, Sagittarius, shoot your arrow from the center of the Milky Way, and find that person. This is the person chosen by the archer." His eyes were glowing red as he opened them, and a girl was projected in his mind. She had brown hair in a pony-tail, was dressed in a tennis player's uniform complete with a visor, and held a racket in her hands.

"Katy Sandler, soon your energy will be mine." While Nephrite gloated to himself, he remained unaware that he was being watched by three pairs of eyes, which belonged to three lemurs of different species. The smallest lemur was a light brown color with beige fur on his stomach and had a small, almost flat snout. The second tallest lemur had a more subdued color scheme consisting of various shades of gray and black and was considerably wider than the other two. The tallest lemur was entirely gray in color, save for the black rings on his tail, and had a long, narrow snout. Another noticeable feature was the crudely fashioned headdress he wore like a crown. These three lemurs were among the many that Thedon now owned thanks to that auction, and their names were Mort, Maurice, and Julian, or King Julian as he preferred to be called.

"See Maurice, it is just as the sky spirits told me, the second dark general has made his first move."

"Not that I doubted your judgment, your majesty, but are you sure we should even be here?"

"How many times must I explain this to you? The penguins told us that Thedon needed some eyes and ears on the outside, and the sky spirits told me about this place. It's a clear sign that this is what we are meant to do in order to repay Thedon for keeping us from becoming some tacky seat cover. Am I right Mort?" After failing to hear an answer, Julian looked behind him to see Mort staring intently at the projection and Nephrite. "Pretty lights."

It was the end of Thedon's first day back from his month long absence, and he took the time to catch up with everything that's happened since then. Naturally he got many questions from the students asking why he was gone so long, but he simply rebuffed them and changed the subject. He finally escaped the over-curious crowd and started looking for Serena. He found her with Molly, and both were simply mesmerized by what was happening in the enclosed tennis court. A girl with long brown hair in a pony-tail was playing a superb game, which whipped the crowd into frenzy with every swing of her racket. Thedon let out a chuckle watching how both girls screamed the loudest with every score. He stood back for several more minutes and listened in on how Molly thought of the girl, Katy Sandler, as her older sister since their mothers were best friends.

Thedon finally decided to join the crowd, which drew Serena's attention. Her gaze alerted Molly to his presence as well. The two girls waved him over, and he obligingly joined them.

"Hey there, girls. I see you're both enjoying the show. By the looks of things, this Katy seems pretty popular with the boys."

"Well of course she is. She's pretty, she's smart, and she's the star of the tennis club. It's no wonder she draws so much attention."

"Hmm, well don't get me wrong, she is a cute girl, but she isn't really my type. It's sadly a very well-known fact that sports like this can over time develop into an obsession if taken too seriously."

Thedon's attention was drawn else-where as the sound of an expensive sports car reached his ears. He looked over and saw a man with long, reddish-brown hair dressed in an expensive suit standing at the gate. He managed to catch bits and pieces of gossip from the crowd, learning that he was supposedly the boss of his own company. Thedon, however, was highly suspicious of these claims. He couldn't shake the feeling that something was off about him, he just didn't know what yet.

He and the rest of the crowd then watched in surprise as, with little to no effort, he jumped clear over the fence. He then proceeded to interrupt the game and gave Katy some advice. With every move this person made, Thedon grew more and more suspicious. His name was later revealed as Maxfield Stanton, a supposed tennis coach. He handed Katy's racket back to her, after which he issued a challenge. Unseen by everyone else, Thedon noticed a slight glazed look in her eyes that wasn't there before.

The crowd witnessed as the male club members were systematically beaten by a mix of wounding hits and intimidation. Serena and the others were in awe of this, but Thedon decided that enough was enough. While he was in recovery, he learned that while he couldn't perform any special attacks, he could still perform some pretty amazing physical feats as a result of his earlier intensive training. He mimicked Maxfield Stanton by jumping cleanly over the fence, then proceeded to land in such a way that a dropped racket flew upward, which Thedon then caught as it fell.

"Well then Ms. Sandler, what say you we kick this up a notch? I've been looking for a good activity to help relieve my stiffness after a month of bed rest, and I think I may have found it. Do you accept?" Katy didn't answer with words, instead allowing a served volley to do the talking. Almost everyone watching expected this match to end like the others, only to be completely surprised to watch Thedon match Katy serve for serve. Time seemed to slow to a crawl as Thedon intercepted every one of Katy's serves, while Katy seemed to relish the new challenge. Serena cheered loudly for Thedon with every point he scored. Unseen by anyone, even Thedon, his eyes started to change the longer the match went on. They slowly but surely became more beastly, and his perception seemed to increase as they changed.

Nephrite, meanwhile, was watching the whole thing from the school rooftop. 'Could this be the human that gave Jadeite so much trouble? He's impressive I admit, but nothing special to warrant any immediate concern. The more she uses that racket, the more her energy will increase, and this human's skill will only serve to drive her to use it more.'

The sun was just starting to set when the most intense game of tennis seen by the crossroads junior high school student body came to a close. The court looked reminiscent of a war zone, with tennis ball sized holes in the court, fence, and the net. Thedon was nearing the point of absolute exhaustion, and Katy was no better. This, in Thedon's opinion, was the second most draining experience of his young life, the first being the felling of an entire army of monsters. Despite this, Thedon had never felt more alive, more driven. His instincts were screaming to continue until only he was left standing, while his body struggled just to hold him upright.

With help from Serena and Amy, he managed to make it to the halfway point between the school and his home. The penguin commandos met them and proceeded to take him the rest of the way, bidding the girls a good night before sliding off, dragging Thedon on a sled-like stretcher behind them like a pack of sled dogs. After they got him home, they left to meet up with Luna. After managing to prove their loyalty, Luna decided to include them when she went to check in with her correspondent at the closed arcade. Kowalski was highly impressed, which sadly caused him to revert to a subconscious habit of talking in incomprehensible scientist babble which required a smack from Skipper to shut him up. They might have appointed Thedon as their honorary general, but Skipper still retained his leader status in his absence.

After an exchange of passcode phrases, the meeting got underway. Luna did the honors of introducing the penguins and things proceeded from there.

"We have new information about our enemy. They come from an alternate dimension called the Negaverse, and they are very powerful. We believe they are collecting energy from humans for some nefarious purpose." Sadly, Skipper was becoming impatient with stating the obvious.

"Well of course they have a purpose for doing this, anyone with half a brain cell could figure that out. The real question is what this purpose could be. One doesn't go through all this trouble without some serious forethought." While Skipper thought about a possible motive, Private voiced his own thoughts.

"Well, maybe they're trying to keep something alive." This drew everyone's attention. "It makes sense to me. I've seen firsthand what their energy draining process does to the victims. It's like sucking the very life out of them. The only possible uses I could see for this is either reviving something that was dead, or keeping something that was dying alive." While his comrades still seemed skeptical, Luna was considering the possibility of such an action.

"You could very well be right, Private, but we can't jump to any conclusions just yet. There's still a lot about them we don't know." The meeting came to a close half an hour later, at which point Luna left for the Tsukino household while Skipper and the others made for Giscard mansion. However, unknown to any of them, a figure cloaked in black was watching them from the shadows. The figure watched them disappear, waited a few minutes, and then seemed to vanish in a cloud of smoke.

The sun dawned upon another day in Juuban, which passed without incident. It was now afternoon and Luna had gathered the Sailor Scouts at Cherry Hill Shrine to discuss her findings. This eventually led to an argument between Amy and Raye about whether to attack head on or stay low and form a plan. Serena wasn't taking part in this argument, partly because she was day-dreaming about Maxfield Stanton, and partly because she was worried about whether or not Thedon would get here. Almost as if on cue, Thedon came into the distance. Serena's silence caught the attention of Raye and Amy, who stopped arguing and noticed Thedon as well.

"Sorry I'm late girls, I had a hard time avoiding Katy. She's become obsessed with challenging me ever since yesterday, and her attitude is getting worse. I heard her talking down to the other girls who got up enough courage to play against her. Also, we'd best be wary of Maxfield Stanton. Three of my animal friends snuck off two days ago and spied on a person matching Mr. Stanton's description. He may very well be connected to the Negaverse, as well as the cause of Katie's sudden mood dive."

Katie's attitude continued to decline over the next few days. She only seemed to be satisfied if Thedon was playing against her, while at any other time against anyone else, she grew cold and abusive. It was during a match with Thedon that Molly had tried to talk to her, only to angrily turn her away. Thedon had held his tongue many times, hoping she just needed to blow off some steam, but this was the straw that broke the camel's back.

"Sandler, I may not be privy to the kind of relationship you have with Molly, but this kind of behavior is simply intolerable. As such, unless you change your attitude, I refuse to play against you."

"What?! How can you say that, when you put just as much effort into this as me? Pick up your racket and serve, Giscard."

"This is precisely why I detest any sort of sporting competition. You've obviously let your obsession consume you beyond the point of conventional means. You just gave a friend who's known you since childhood the cold shoulder for no reason at all. Such an unsightly display disgusts me in ways too vulgar to speak of in public." With that final declaration, Thedon departed from the tennis court.

He arrived home in a sour mood and did something he hasn't done since he was in kindergarten; shut himself in his room and refusing to leave for any reason at all. Night fell and his mood still didn't improve, although his rage had cooled to a point that he could think rationally.

'This just confirms that something unnatural is at work here. Nothing short of powerful drugs could cause someone's attitude to change so suddenly. I don't think Furon tech alone is going to cut it this time. But what else is there?' He pondered for nearly an hour before he realized the answer. He got up and retrieved the leather pouch which held the elemental gems and the philosopher's stone. He reached in and felt around until he felt something sharp puncture the center of his palm. Then a bright flash filled his vision as an unseen force threw him back. When the light faded, Thedon noticed a multi-pointed star shaped white crystal with one of its points stuck in his hand. He noticed that a small amount of his blood was being absorbed into the crystal.

'This must be how it determines whether someone is worthy or not.' The crystal eventually stopped absorbing his blood, let out a flash, and then sank into his hand, leaving behind a scar in the image of said crystal. His mind was then filled with images and memories of the stones creator, telling him what he could now do and how to use the magic in the stone. The sudden influx of information, however, was too much for him, and he passed out due to information overload. He was once again in his mind scape, standing before Crypto, Rumble & Tumble, Master Rokushi, and Solaris. Crypto was decidedly not happy about what happened.

"You stupid monkey, what the hell were you thinking? Do you realize how much danger you put us in if the stone rejected you?" Master Rokushi was in no better mood, though he wasn't visibly angry.

"Tis a reckless bull that charges into a slaughter house, young star. It was lucky the power in the stone found you worthy." A new voice tried to diffuse the situation.

"Your anger is understandable, but unfounded. The stone actively seeks out those who are worthy in its own way, and would not have shown itself to young Thedon if he was not chosen." And old man in wizards robes and a wide rimmed, pointed hat, both in a deep blue color with a deep violet cloak. He looked every bit the stereotypical wise scholar.

"This is just an assumption, but I'm guessing that you are a manifestation of the philosopher's stone which chose to take the form of the late Nicholas Flamell?"

"You are indeed correct, young Giscard. I knew I had chosen right with you. I understand you sought to use the stones power to protect those most dear to you."

While all this was happening with Thedon, Serena was busy trying to cheer Molly up. Having known each other since early childhood, Katie's sudden change in behavior was most distressing. Serena promised her that they would found out what was wrong, and soon found herself and Molly outside the Tennis club. Serena was hesitant to go in, having gotten a bad feeling on the way there. Thedon's input at their meeting earlier in the day kept cropping up, as did the lack of respect from Raye.

'Maybe Thedon was right after all. I know he means well, but sometimes I hate it when he's right. Still, if I manage to win this fight by myself, that would show Raye that I'm more that capable of being the leader.' They want in and found Katy playing against two professional tennis players, while constantly grumbling about how little challenge they were compared to Thedon. She was about to serve again, when she heard her name. Molly and Serena stood between her and her opponents, and she was not happy about that. Her eyes were dull and lifeless, yet radiated a feeling of hostility. A shouting match soon started up between the three, all of which was being watched by a figure in the shadows.

"Get out of the way."

"No Katy, we're not leaving."

"GET OUT!"

"Katy. Molly's only trying to help you."

"LAST WARNING!"

Katy gave her racket a mighty swing, and unleashed a raging torrent of red wind that propelled them both into some nearby bushes. It was at that moment that Nephrite chose to strike, and in a flash of red light a Negaverse monster appeared out of Katie's racket. Molly was knocked out, but Serena ducked behind a building and proceeded to transform. Unknown to her, transforming into Sailor moon releases a wave of light energy which certain artifacts can sense, one such artifact being the philosophers' stone.

"As much as I would like to continue conversing with you young Thedon, I think you are needed elsewhere. Seems like your friend Serena has transformed into Sailor Moon, which means a Negaverse monster has made itself known." With those final words, Thedon was ejected from his subconscious back to the waking world. His eyes snapped open and he saw the penguins around him.

"See Skipper, I told you he was fine."

"Never mind that Kowalski, get my weapons and jet pack ready at once. Sailor Moon is engaging a Negaverse monster on her own. Skipper, warm up the automated defenses in case things go south. Rico, prepare the armory for immediate mobilization. Private, get a hold of Luna and tell her to send Amy and Raye to the Tennis club ASAP. Well, what are you waiting for? Get to it." The penguins gave a salute and immediately got to work. A hatch opened up and Thedon jumped in, coming out the other side with his Furon tech weapons and jet pack. Kowalski's voice soon came over an unseen loudspeaker.

"Zap-O-Matic is fully charged, Destructo-ray functioning at peak performance, Jet pack thrusters are green, runway is set for launch."

"Copy that, engage countdown to launch."

"Copy that, take off in T minus 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, ignition engaged."

With that, the jet pack roared to life and rocketed Thedon down the runway, emerging from a nearby hillside in a streak of light and rocketing across the sky to the tennis club. He arrived to see Sailor Moon just beginning to confront the monster, which formed a racket of energy and launched a ball of dark light at her. Determined to protect her, he dove down like a peregrine falcon and scooped her up in his arms just in time to dodge the attack. The monster, Tensie, grimaced upon its attack missing its target. Serena was just bewildered at Thedon's sudden appearance.

"Thedon, how did you know where I was?"

"Let's just say one of the many trinkets in my room proved its worth. More importantly, what possessed you to try and attempt this on your own? We don't know what this new batch of monsters is capable of; you could have been seriously hurt." Despite the fact that she wanted to argue, she wilted under Thedon's argument.

"I just wanted to show Raye and Luna that I had what it takes to be a Sailor Scout." She started tearing up like a child being scolded by her parents. Thedon landed off to the side and set her down. He waited for her to calm down before continuing.

"Now, now, no need for those tears, I'm not mad, I was just worried about you. As a friend I could never forgive myself if anything happened to you." Serena felt very moved by Thedon's concern, but the tender moment was interrupted by Tensie.

"Where are you, cowards? Come out and face me." Thedon let out an annoyed grunt at this interruption.

"We'll continue this discussion another time. For now, I think we have a monster to stop. So, how about it, Sailor Moon? You up for some double action?" He held out his hand for Sailor Moon, which coincidentally had the star-like scar from the Philosopher's stone. She took it and he helped her up. They walked onto the tennis court, Thedon with his usual confidence, and Sailor Moon with a renewed sense of determination.

"So, finally decided to show yourselves, did you? No matter, it's already clear who the victor in this battle is." Thedon simply smirked and responded with, "I couldn't agree more, and I'm so glad you were able to admit that you lost. Now, let's get this show on the road, it's late and we have school tomorrow." He concluded by holding out his scarred palm, flexed his fingers and watched as particles of light manifested themselves in his hand. Tensie saw this as a chance to attack, and started launching fireballs at them. Sailor Moon looked scared, but Thedon simply stood there, smiled and said, "HEAVENS RAMPARTS!"

A huge barrier of light rose from the ground in time to block the fireballs. Sailor Moon stared in awe at what Thedon had just done. She thought he was impressive before, but never thought he could do magic. The barrier faded as the fireballs stopped, and Thedon went on the attack. He charged forward, dodging from side to side as Tensie continued to shoot fireballs. He got in close, ready to strike a blow, when a fireball was shot at him from point blank range. It didn't hurt him too badly, but it left him wide open to attack. A ball of energy, similar to what Tensie tried to use on Sailor Moon, struck him while he was attempting to regain his momentum. The projectile enveloped him, and soon became a giant tennis ball. Thedon grimaced as he watched the monster fire another shot at Sailor Moon.

"Don't just stand there, Sailor Moon, run!" She heeded Thedon's warning, but wasn't fast enough to outrun the shot. Soon she too looked like a giant tennis ball, and she was unable to do anything except flail around. The next several minutes consisted of both Thedon and Sailor Moon being bounced around the court. It continued like that until something flew past Tensie, grazing its eye and breaking its focus, which in turn caused the two captives to fall back to earth. Said projectile turned out to be a rose, which meant Tuxedo Mask was close by.

"So, tuxedo boy finally decides to intervene. Could he have at least gotten us a softer landing?" Thedon continued to grumble as he got to his feet, with Sailor Moon also getting up. They both watched as Tensie attacked tuxedo mask with the same move as before, only to watch as he jumped over it. His cane then extended to impossible lengths, striking Tensie between the eyes. This strike disrupted Tensie's concentration further, releasing Thedon and Sailor Moon from the giant tennis balls.

Tuxedo mask landed beside Thedon, who was charging up his Zap-O-Matic. Tensie had recovered from the last attack, and shot off another volley of fireballs. Tuxedo mask once again jumped clear, but Sailor Moon could only run around frantically trying to evade the burning spheres. She lost her balance at one point, and Tensie took advantage of this by launching a much larger fire ball. She was frozen in fear by the advancing attack, her short life flashing before her eyes. She closed her eyes, waiting for the attack to hit, only to feel someone wrapping their arms around her. She looked up and saw Thedon using his body to shield her from the attack.

The pain Thedon felt in his back was excruciating. While the Furon force field absorbed the impact, it couldn't absorb the intense heat of the attack. 'This will be difficult to explain to Mom and Dad for sure,' was the only other thought in his mind other than to protect his friend. He felt the attack finally give out, and took heavy breaths as he tried to block out the pain. The Furon shield finally recharged and started healing Thedon's back. Sailor Moon had a scared look in her eyes, afraid that Thedon had just sacrificed himself to save her.

"Thedon, are you alright? Please say something."

"I'm fine… (Hah)…just a scratch, nothing more. I'll be back up in a few seconds, and then we can finish this." Tuxedo mask wasn't as convinced. "I wouldn't be too sure of that. You should stay down, let me take over here."

"Like hell … I may be new to magic … but I can still fight. Here's what we'll do, Tuxedo boy will distract the monster, I'll stun it with the zap-o-matic, and then Sailor Moon will finish it off, understood?" Sailor Moon nodded, while Tuxedo mask simply took out another rose from his cape. He threw it so that the flower petals hit Tensie's face, and then Thedon took aim and fired his Zap-O-Matic. Tensie got the flower petals out of its face only to receive 100,000 volts of electricity. This caused enough damage to cripple it, which allowed Sailor Moon to deal the finishing blow.

"MOON TIARA MAGIC!"

Tensie could only look on in horror as the attack hit home, vaporizing the monster and returning the energy stolen from Katy. Tuxedo mask turned to congratulate everyone, only to be hit by a red beam of light and knocked out. Another beam shot towards Sailor Moon, who managed to duck in time to avoid it. Thedon moved to the side to dodge another beam, and returned fire with the Zap-O-Matic.

The figure in the shadows watched the battle with keen interest. The fact that mundane people could stand toe-to-toe with an unknown monster was completely unheard of in his world. The figure looked at all three and determined the boy with the unknown device was the biggest threat, which was re-enforced after seeing what it could do. The figure finally decided to strike after watching the monster get shocked and vaporized. The figure fired off a spell at the one in the Tuxedo, which connected. It fired off another spell at the girl, but missed. Undeterred, another spell was fired at the other boy, only to watch as he dodged it and returned fire. The figure, which turned out to be a male, grunted in pain as electricity briefly coursed through his body. Having been discovered, he figured that hiding was no longer a valid strategy, and stepped out of the shadows.

Thedon heard a grunt, so he knew he hit something. "Alright, who or whatever you are, come out of there right now before I blow your ass to hell and back." Thedon called out with a silent rage in his voice. The figure stepped out of the shadows, revealing a middle-aged man with a pig-like face and beady eyes, pallid skin tone, squat and lumpy build, and hunched over. He wore black robes with a pointed hood and held what appeared to be a stick in his hand, which was pointed at him.

"You better have a damn good reason for attacking us like this. Now start talking before I turn you into a live-wire. Who the hell are you, what are you doing here, and why are you attacking us?" The man just gave Thedon a lopsided sneer before responding.

"Quite a mouth on you, isn't there? Since you asked so nicely, and since you aren't long for this world, I'll tell you. My name is Amycus Carrow, a pure-blood wizard of Great Britain. I came here to investigate the rumors of unexplained magic and neutralize the cause by order of the Minister of Magic, Cornelius Fudge. I'm actually quite surprised that a couple of no account muggles can perform such powerful magic." Sailor Moon, having heard all this, decided to jump to her and Thedon's defense.

"Do you have any idea who you're talking to? I am Sailor Moon, champion of justice and this is Thedon Giscard." Her outburst prompted Carrow to fire off another attack from the stick in his hand to silence her.

"Be silent in the presence of your betters until spoken to, wench."

"Don't you dare insult my friend, wizard. One more spell out of you and I will roast you alive."

"Go ahead and try. STUPEFY!" A red beam shot from his wand towards Thedon, who dodged just enough for the spell to graze his shield. Thedon retaliated with a blast of lighting, and watched as the wizard seemed to just bat it aside.

"BOMBARDA!" Carrow fired off another spell, and this one scored a direct hit. The force of the spell threw Thedon backwards into the air to crash against the tennis court fence. With his back still tender from the still healing burns, the amount of pain he was in was magnified to the point that he was paralyzed. Carrow just gave off his lopsided sneer and advanced towards the downed heir. He kicked the Zap-O-Matic out of Thedon's reach and pointed his wand at him.

"A real shame, I could have made a killing ransoming you back to your parents, but I guess a little fun with the girl will have to suffice." He was about to fire off another spell, when he heard someone shout,

"MARS FIRE IGNITE!"

He swiveled around and blocked the attack, and saw two more girls dressed similar to the blonde one. One had black flowing hair and the other had short blue hair. Between them was a black cat with a crescent moon insignia on its forehead. Thedon smiled seeing Sailor Mercury and Sailor Mars. "Mars, Mercury, happy you could join us; a little help would be greatly appreciated." Carrow's eyes darted between the new girls and Thedon, frantically searching for something to give him the upper hand. His smirk turned more sinister as he pointed his wand at Thedon and shouted,

"CRUCIO!"

A flash of light emitted from the wand, and Thedon's pain suddenly felt magnified by a factor of 200. He was in such pain that he couldn't even scream, only writhe uncontrollably in a vain attempt to escape the pain.

The Sailor Scouts were horrified at what was happening. Their hearts sank and tears filled their eyes. Luna also had tears in her eyes, but tears of anger.

"Stop this at once you monster! You might kill him!" Carrow was further surprised upon seeing a cat talk.

"Silence, wretched beast. One wrong move out of any of you, and I'll put him in so much agony that his mind will shatter." Carrow sneered in triumph at regaining the upper hand. He kept his wand pointed at Thedon as he thought what to do next, when his wand was knocked from his hand by a rose. Tuxedo Mask, having been brought back to consciousness by all the noise, wasted no time in helping his ally. With the wand no longer pointed at him, Thedon finally calmed down and stopped thrashing.

Carrow scowled at losing his advantage. He was growing frustrated with these constant interruptions, and decided to make a tactical retreat.

"Wretched muggles, you may have gotten lucky this time, but it can only last for so long. We shall meet again, and when we do, it will mark your last day among the living. ACCIO WAND!" His discarded wand flew to his hand, and he raised it above his head and disappeared in a funnel of black smoke. The Scouts, Tuxedo Mask, and Luna all ran over to Thedon, hoping that he was still himself and not a vegetable. That would have been difficult to explain to both his parents and the penguins. Sailor Moon got there first, and went about setting him upright.

"Thedon, are you alright? Please say something." Thedon let out a short moan as he slowly came around. His eyes opened and took a few seconds to focus. He grimaced as he sat up on his own.

"Scouts, good to see you all. What happened to Carrow?" Luna decided to answer him.

"He disappeared after his wand was knocked out of his hand. He also said that he would be back."

"Crap, I guess this means the Negaverse isn't the only problem we have to deal with."

"You don't think the Negaverse is seeking outside help, do you?"

"No, if that monster and Carrow were allies, he wouldn't have hidden in the shadows and would have likely attacked before the monster was destroyed. What we're dealing with is a separate unaffiliated organization. For now, I think it would be best if we get everyone home before our parents call the police." Everyone made it home without any further incidents and before long the next day came. After school, Thedon and Serena decided to see how Katy was doing. Luckily she didn't remember what happened over the past few days, and Molly was especially grateful to have her back to her old self. They celebrated with a friendly game of tennis, which culminated in Serena almost being hit square in the face by a rouge serve, the almost being that Thedon managed to block the ball before it hit her.


	12. Chapter 12

**The Fifth Horse Rises, Nature Strikes Back**

It's been two days since the whole tennis incident. Since then, Serena has noticed a distinct change in Thedon's behavior. He seemed more on edge, as if expecting an attack from anywhere at any time. The problem was compounded further when three new students from overseas joined the class. Thedon seemed to have some rather poor history with them the seemed to further sour his mood.

Furthermore, whatever it was that Carrow did, it seemed to unearth some traumatizing memories from Thedon's past. These memories seemed to plague his dreams, resulting in a much more severe sleeping problem then the late night love line incident. At Amy's suggestion, the girls tried to take Thedon's mind off his problems by taking him to a nearby park the Amy frequented since her early childhood. It seemed to be working; Thedon could literally feel the accumulated stress melt away at the soft sound of the wind in the trees, the light rustling of the lake water, and of the heavy machinery destroying the landscape…. Wait, what?!

You could hear the serene atmosphere shatter like cheap glass on a stone floor. They moved further into the park to try and escape the noise, and came across the parks caretaker, Mr. Baxter. He told them about how some British super-company bought out the parks original owner and began clearing the land to make room for a supplies warehouse. Now this peaked Thedon's interest, since he knew that a certain amount of time needed to pass before such development could begin, at least two months. But from what Mr. Baxter was saying, whoever was in charge of this project waited only one week before starting.

"Mr. Baxter, I think I can help you. Have you tried telling the police about this? As a child of two major business moguls, I'm well aware of the various regulations involved in such an operation, and I'm seeing at least one major violation." Mr. Baxter just sighed before answering.

"I appreciate you trying to help, Thedon. But I already tried that. The police questioned the head foreman, only for him to walk out of the station and the police forgetting about the whole thing. Enjoy the park while you can kids, because it will all be gone by next week." Mr. Baxter heaved another sigh before returning to work on a nearby flower bed. Serena, Amy, and Raye were disheartened by this news, while Thedon felt his rage surging like a tidal wave at the obvious injustice that was being ignored.

Later that night, Luna was looking for the gang at the arcade. She got rather concerned since they usually don't go a single day without meeting here. While looking for them, she saw three new faces among the clientele. They were three boys, all in their early teens; that much she could tell. One of the boys was very tall, although some of that height could be contributed to his long neck. He also seemed to lack a noticeable chin, had a flat head with small hairs, wide-set eyes which seemed to look in two different directions at once, and a noticeably thick unibrow. He wore a green jacket over a red and white striped shirt and a pair of somewhat baggy jeans.

The next boy was the second tallest of the group. He had a noticeably larger chin, an almost diamond-shaped head, and wore a sock-like black hat with white stripes. His facial features didn't stand out much except for a small gap between his top front teeth. He wore a red shirt, thick purple shorts, and red socks that reached up to his knees.

The final boy was the shortest and seemed to be the leader. His head was flat like the first boy, with three strands of hair on his head. Facial-wise he was nothing special, except for some tan lines around his eyes. He also seemed to exude an aura of smugness, greed, and gullibility. He wore a yellow shirt with a blue collar and a red stripe down the front and back. He also wore a pair of baggy jeans which were lighter in color then the first boys.

The names of these boys were, from tallest to shortest, Ed, Edd, and Eddy. They met Thedon three years ago when his father visited to supervise the construction of a new candy shop which soon became a frequent hangout spot for the three. They were also known for concocting numerous scams to fleece the neighborhood kids of their allowances, with Thedon being a frequent target due to his family's wealth. Almost all of these scams were failures in one form or another, resulting in hospital bills and repair costs that robbed them of what little money they obtained.

Eddy was also known for being a womanizer, seeing himself as god's gift to women. This was demonstrated by his attempt at hitting on Serena and Amy two days ago. While he was rebuffed, he wouldn't take no for an answer, which resulted in Thedon having to reprimand him in a somewhat violent manner.

Back in the present, Luna was so busy watching the boys that she wandered into the street, and stopped in front of an oncoming truck. The sound of the trucks engine caught her attention, causing her to scream. She closed her eyes, awaiting the inevitable. She expected there to be a lot of pain involved, but all she felt was a pair of arms scooping her up. She opened her eyes and saw Thedon above her, clutching her to his chest and breathing heavily.

"Luna, I know I haven't been my normal self lately, but trying to get yourself killed won't solve anything." Before he could continue talking, Serena, Amy, and Raye managed to catch up to him. Having witnessed the almost accident, they were concerned for Luna's safety, but they were also bewildered by Thedon's sudden burst of inhuman speed. Shoving those questions aside, they rushed over to Thedon and Luna. Serena got there first and started fussing over them.

"Thedon, Luna, are you two alright?"

"I'm a little winded, but otherwise fine." He looked down and gave Luna a quick glance. She seemed to be unharmed aside from a scare. Sadly for them, the commotion drew the attention of the Eds, who rushed out to see what happened. Being the arrogant person he is, Eddy was the first to open his big mouth.

"Well, if it isn't the spoiled rich kid and his groupies. Trying to drum up some more praise from the masses?" His nerves already frayed, Thedon had to really fight the urge to lash out at Eddy.

"Eddy, I have no time for you right now. So why don't you do both myself and yourself a favor and GET THE HELL OUT OF MY SIGHT?!"

Sadly, while this was happening, Nephrite was busy divining his next victim, who soon turned out to be Mr. Baxter. Meanwhile in the rafters of his mansion, the Lemurs were just leaving in preparation for a meeting with the penguins.

Back with the gang, Serena was busy with a sailor V game while Thedon and Raye sat off to the side. Raye couldn't explain it, but ever since she met Thedon and helped with his injured hands, she found it hard to not think about him. Not being the type to sit in the background, she decided to take the initiative.

"I've been wondering, Thedon. What was that crazy speed of yours back there? You don't really seem like some kind of fitness freak."

"Well, while I might not be a fitness freak, I do still work out. My parents raised me with a strong sense of honor and discipline so I didn't kill myself overindulging in chocolate and other such foods. That little display outside was part of an old fighting style called Rokushiki."

"Six Powers? I don't think I've ever heard of it."

"Not surprising, really. There are very few people alive who know of it and fewer still that practice its disciplines. An old dojo master tutored me in this style. Sadly, my training was cut short when he passed away in his sleep. His last words to me were on a note saying how much potential he saw in me and his hopes of me resurrecting the Rokushiki fighting style."

"How far along did you get? Maybe I could help you; my Grandpa taught me martial arts since I was a kid."

"The Rokushiki revolves around six techniques that grant the user super-human abilities, but requires one to train their body to the point of exhaustion and beyond in order to achieve even the basic moves, and they must be learned in a set order to be fully effective. I only managed to master the basics of one move before my Sensei passed."

While Raye was getting to know Thedon, Mr. Baxter looked on in sadness and anger as the park was torn down. As he looked on, he couldn't help but notice how a select few people were waving sticks around while giving orders. Another similarity he noticed was the British accents in their voices. He was so caught up in his musings that he failed to notice Nephrite, in the guise of Maxfield Stanton, walk up behind him.

"A real shame what they're doing to this park. I used to play here as a kid, and now it's being torn down."

"I know, but what can I do? Not even the police will help me."

Nephrite merely smirked before turning to Mr. Baxter. "I might know a way to stop them, with your help of course," Nephrite paused for a second before saying, "or the help of your pathetic human body!" Mr. Baxter was so surprised that he couldn't move, allowing Nephrite the time to implant a monster in his hat, leaving his seal behind. The influx of Negaverse energy caused Mr. Baxter to pass out, leaving Nephrite alone with his thoughts.

'Now I will harvest the energy of that human as well as all the animals in this park. And I might even lure out the Sailor Scouts and that annoying human.'

Unknown to either Nephrite or Mr. Baxter, the Eds witnessed the entire exchange from the treetops, having gone to the park to collect themselves after their encounter with Thedon. Edd, being quick to panic began doing just that.

"Eddy, this is not good, we just got ourselves caught in a supernatural conspiracy. We need to get out of here and warn the authorities, the army, the government, and the masses!"

"Take a chill pill, Double D. We aren't telling anyone about this. In fact if we play this right, we could be rich by the weekend." Eddy punctuated that statement with dollar signs in his eyes.

"Eddy, I've gone along with plenty of your ideas before, but this is crossing the line! Unless someone stops this, innocent people could be hurt!"

"What and no one ever got hurt in any of your failure ideas, Double D?"

"Don't you dare bad-mouth my ideas, the only reason they failed is because you and Ed always do something to mess things up!"

While those two were arguing, Ed was keeping an eye on Mr. Baxter. Ed was never well known for his intelligence, spending most of his life reading comics and watching sci-fi and horror movies, and so a lot of his opinions were tuned out. However, something in his gut was telling him to keep an eye on Mr. Baxter.

It could have been minutes; it could have been hours, all Mr. Baxter knew was that when he woke up, he felt his anger and rage boil like never before. His rage seemed to be contagious, as the next thing he knew he gave out a shout of rage and a swarm of butterflies assaulted the construction site, breaking the equipment and harassing the workers.

"Eddy, Double D, you guys got to see this!" Eds shout got the attention of his bickering friends, and soon they too bore witness to the fight in the construction site. Eddy was starting to feel a little unnerved while Double D descended further into panic. The commotion caught Mr. Baxter's attention, and soon the three kids were running through the night being chased by squirrels and birds.

At the same time, Thedon was getting ready for his evening training session. Master Rokushi informed him that his body was now capable of handling the strain that the Rokushiki would put on him. So, every morning and every night he would set a lap time by running on a suspended gym track that spanned the circumference of his home, which in itself was quite impressive, and then he would strap on some arm and leg weights, and continue running until he either exhausted himself or matched his original time. Every time he managed to do so, he would increase the amount of weight and repeat the process. He typically didn't go to such extremes, but he needed something to exhaust his rage. The penguins would take shifts with keeping track of his times, making notes on every little difference they could find. They also had to keep a close eye on Thedon to make sure he didn't cause any sort of permanent damage. They finally decided to call it a night after Thedon had done fifteen laps with twenty pounds of weight on each limb.

Soon a new day dawned on Juuban, and since it was the weekend, Thedon decided to give himself a break from his training. Despite this, the goings-on a Fairview park kept nagging at the back of his mind. According to the supervisors at the construction site, the natives of the forest were becoming restless and violent. While he was pleased that the clearly illegal construction project was grinding to a stand-still, he couldn't help but think that there was something else involved, something Negaverse related. He was brought out of his musings just in time to catch someone who had tripped, who turned out to be Raye.

"Whoa there, Raye. Where are you going in such a hurry?" He noted that Raye was wearing a school uniform, probably from weekend classes. He couldn't help but notice how cute she looked.

"I was actually going to find you. I did a little research on the Rokushiki fighting style and found some of the principles rather extreme. I wanted to make sure that you didn't hurt yourself."

"I appreciate your concern Raye, but the penguins are quite adept at making sure I don't wear myself out. But, as long as you're here, how's about you join me for some lunch? My treat." Thedon saw Raye practically light up with happiness at his offer, which she eagerly accepted. They started walking towards a local café, with Raye practically wrapping herself around Thedon's arm. A small part of his mind couldn't help but notice how natural the position felt.

While they were talking, Serena and Luna were walking down the street, with Serena enjoying an ice-cream cone. They had just spotted Thedon walking down the street, and were going to ask him to join them for lunch, until Serena noticed Raye running and tripping in front of him. She looked on as Thedon caught her before she could hit the ground, and felt a confusing mix of serenity and jealousy for some reason. She was brought out of her musings by Luna.

"Well, it seems Raye and Thedon are hitting it off quite well. I have to say, they make a cute couple." This statement caused Serena to experience another wave of conflicting emotions, and decided to follow them for good measure. Luna could do nothing but sigh and follow Serena, confused as to why Serena was acting so possessive. Serena meanwhile was thinking to herself, 'I am not losing Thedon to Raye. I met him first, and Raye will just have to get in line if she wants to be with him. Wait where did that come from? Thedon is mine, period.'

Elsewhere another kind of drama was unfolding. In a small shed in the park where Mr. Baxter normally kept his gardening tools, the project leader was having a meeting with the man. The project lead was a regal looking man with long, blonde hair. His clothes consisted mainly of flowing, robe-like attire, all of which was either very dark in color or entirely black. The man continually tried to convince Mr. Baxter that his protests were a lost cause, while Mr. Baxter himself simply set across from him with a scowl on his face. The meeting came to an end with nothing having been covered, and the project manager was grumbling to himself. "Stupid muggles, thinking their opinions matter. Once the Dark Lord returns, all of them will be put in their proper place, groveling at our feet." The man finished his thought by spitting out some chewing tobacco without a second thought, unaware that a squirrel had seen the act, a squirrel whose eyes flashed red for a second.

Back with Thedon and Raye, they were enjoying their lunch while Raye continued to question Thedon on the aspects of his fighting style. Unknown to them, Serena and Luna were just outside the café keeping tabs on them. Serena was still experiencing two conflicting emotions. Her pride was screaming at her to get Thedon away from Raye, while something deep in her heart was telling her that it would be just fine. Luna, having finally caught on to Serena's jealousy, decided to egg her on. "It's too bad you can't make yourself invisible." That gave Serena an idea, one which Luna protested about.

Unknown to them, Thedon heard them plain as day, but decided to ignore the ruckus in favor of spending time with Raye. He was distracted once more by cheering from his subconscious coming from Crypto. A question from Raye brought him out of his musings.

"So Thedon, you said that this martial arts style revolves around six techniques that must be learned in a specific order to be fully effective, am I right?"

"Yeah, now this is mostly speculation on my part, but I believe that the training required to learn each successive technique prepares one's body for the potential strain brought on by each technique. These techniques in order are Soru, Geppou, Kami-e, Rankyaku, Shigan, and finally Tekkai. As of right now I'm still trying to master Soru, but I am making progress." They spent the rest of their time exchanging funny stories and making small talk.

Serena was sitting a few booths over, reluctantly sharing a milkshake with Melvin and straining to hear what they were talking about. Luna had since wondered off and found Amy, who was becoming increasingly distressed with Mr. Baxter's sudden change of mood. Their attention was suddenly grabbed by a man shouting. What they found was the project manager being attacked by squirrels, what's more was he was waving a stick around frantically shouting various words and phrases that sounded like Latin. He was finally forced to leave, still covered in angry squirrels and shouting curses.

Luna and Amy were both worried and perplexed by what they had seen. Luna was the first to break the silence. "I don't think squirrels are supposed to act like that. There's definitely something wrong here."

"I agree Luna, but what about that man? You don't think he could be like Carrow, do you?"

"It's a possibility Amy; we better get Thedon and the other scouts down here fast."

Having finished their lunch, Raye and Thedon decided to rent a boat. Being the gentleman he is, Thedon paid the rental fee and did the rowing. With the pause in the construction, the rhythmic lapping of the water against the boat produced a sense of peace one couldn't find in the city. Despite the peaceful atmosphere, Thedon's mind constantly wound its way back to one thought; that there were people and forces in existence that would destroy this sanctuary without a second thought. Thedon was brought back the reality by Raye.

"Thedon, is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong Raye. Just thinking about how anyone or anything could be as callous as to destroy this bastion of nature. As if there wasn't enough misery and suffering in this world that people actually acknowledge, compound that with a supernatural force and now the possibility of wizards thrown in and it all seems so hopeless sometimes." Raye's mood was somewhat dampened by that thought. "But," Raye perked up again, "when I see places like this, the smiles of happy people enjoying life, the sheer beauty and innocence no matter how brief it is, it reminds me that there are still things in this life worth fighting for." Raye's spirits were lifted by Thedon's speech.

Serena meanwhile was still watching them from a nearby grove of trees, bemoaning the fact that she couldn't hear what they were saying, and the fact that she had Melvin tagging along. Finally she had enough and left the grove, leaving Melvin alone in his confusion. She ended up running into Amy and Luna, who told her about not just the squirrels, but about the project manager flinging spells to fight off said squirrels. But, before she could think on it, Mr. Baxter saw them.

"What are you doing here? No one is allowed in my park!" This declaration scared the girls. "Now I'll punish you for abusing nature, and I'm afraid it won't be pleasant!" It was at this moment that Nephrite decided to unleash his monster, Petasos. After a flash of red light and a shifting of shadows, Mr. Baxter was lying on the ground, his hair a noticeable white. Beside his body stood a female with purple skin, root-like feet, dark green hair, a carapace-like bustier, long eyebrows shaped like beetle pincers, pointed ears, and tight light-green pants. She also had flower petals growing out of her wrists and ankles.

The girls gasped seeing this, with Amy calling out to Mr. Baxter. The monster simply said, "Forget about that clumsy old fool, he's just a memory." The monster shouted, calling up a flock of birds to attack all people in the park. Amy simply responds by transforming into Sailor Mercury.

"MERCURY POWER!"

Serena followed up a short time later.

"MOON PRISM POWER!"

Unknown to them, the attacking birds chased the Eds out of the woods where they were hiding, and they inadvertently saw the two girls transforming from the shadows. Ed was feeling ecstatic about all these other worldly happenings, he simply couldn't contain his joy. Double D, being the most logical and least likely to believe such circumstances, was silently having a panic attack. Eddy, however, just kept quiet and tried to ignore everything that had happened. Sadly, the noise made by Ed and Double D attracted the birds attention, chasing them into the lake.

When Serena's transformation finished, Thedon felt a pulse from the scar on his hand. His attention was then drawn by the sound of splashing, looking in that direction and seeing the oncoming flock. Thinking fast, he grabbed Raye and attempted to shield her from harm, causing the boat to overturn in the process. The flock passed just as they came up for air. "Hitchcock must be laughing up a storm right now. Raye, are you okay?"

Raye came up for air a few seconds later. "I'm okay, Thedon. But what was that all about?"

"I can only think of two possibly reasons for such activity. 1. Someone is filming a sequel to Hitchcock's "The Birds," or 2. A monster just made itself known. Judging by the obvious lack of camera crews, I'd put money on the latter. As much as I utterly loath to say this, we'll have to put the rest of this outing on hold." The sound of splashing drew his attention. "And now we have to play life guard." Thedon simply sighed, swam over and fished the Eds out of the lake.

The Eds frankly were completely lost. First there was the incident last night that forced them to stay in hiding, and then there was the sudden attack by birds, after which they saw that monster and those two girls transforming, and now they were floundering about in the lake only to be fished out and tossed onto the docks. Ed's excitement from earlier had yet to wear off, so he didn't seem all that effected by it. Edd took a few minutes to collect himself before focusing on Thedon.

"Thedon, thank goodness you're here. We need to leave, now!"

"Calm down, Double D. Now what are you whining about and why were you three in that lake? In case you didn't notice I was having an enjoyable outing with Raye. Now start talking before I throw you back in there."

The feeling of anger he was emanating more than convinced the Eds to start talking, so they told him everything they saw since last night. When they were finally finished, Thedon's expression changed from shocked to irritated.

"Are you three absolutely sure about what you saw?" They nodded rapidly. "Well I suppose the cats out of the bag now. Raye, go help Amy and Serena, I'll be there as soon as I can." Raye simply nodded and rushed off. He turned back to the three boys. "I expect you three to keep what you saw to yourselves until I say otherwise. Like it or not, you three are now a part of this. Now get to somewhere safe and don't come out until either I or one of the girls tells you it's safe. Am I clear?"

While Thedon was dealing with the Eds, Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury were having problems of their own. They were attacked on all side by a swarm of butterflies, while Luna was being besieged by squirrels. Petasos stood there, smiling in triumph until,

"MERCURY BUBBLE BLAST!"

The mass of bubbles burst into a freezing mist, which disabled the butterflies and squirrels. It was all too much for Luna, who was officially knocked out. Sadly, Petasos wasn't done with them. She transformed one of her hands into a flower, and shot out a green seed at Sailor Moon. It stopped a foot in front of her, and then unraveled into a mass of vines that tied her up. Petasos then turned to Sailor Mercury, turned her hair into vines, and ensnared Sailor Mercury. She gradually tightened the vines, intent on squeezing her to death. Sailor Mercury tried to escape, but the vines wouldn't budge and only grew tighter. The situation seemed most dire, until,

"MARS FIRE IGNITE!"

In a flurry of activity, both Sailor Moon and Sailor Mercury were freed. Sailor Moon rolled around, frantically trying to separate herself from the now burning vines, while the vines holding Sailor Mercury fell to the ground in pieces. Sailor Mars jumped beside the still freaked out Sailor Moon, while appearing in a flurry of motion in front of Sailor Mercury was Thedon, who now sported a Katana with an ornate sheath.

"You nearly set ME on fire Mars, and why couldn't Thedon rescue me?" Sailor Moon whined indignantly. Raye simply responded by saying, "Is that any way to talk to someone who just rescued you?" Mars then turned to Petasos. After saying a few words with Sailor Mercury, and getting Sailor Moon all worked up about stealing her lines, Petasos simply laughed and attempted to use more of her green seeds, only to be interrupted by Thedon.

"HANAUTA HACHIMATA!" Thedon then disappeared in a burst of speed, seeming to attack from eight different directions, and then he reappeared before the Sailor Scouts with his sword drawn, walked eight steps towards them, then sheathed his sword.

"YAMATO GIRI!" Petasos took eight hits simultaneously, shredding her seeds and severely injuring her in the process. "Sorry, Sailor Moon, but I didn't want to risk maiming you in the process of freeing you. My swordsmanship is a bit rusty, but enough about that, hurry up and finish her off while she's stunned." Sailor Moon simply nodded.

"MOON TIARA MAGIC!"

Petasos saw the attack coming, but couldn't dodge due to her injuries. This resulted in the attack reducing her to dust. With her death the spell of rage cast upon the animals was broken. Thedon looked around, smiling at the return of serenity to the area, but he couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen. His excessive caution paid off, as scant seconds later he heard someone shout,

"VENTUS!"

Acting on instinct he used Soru to intercept the attack, raised his sword in a guarding pose, and took the full brunt of the attack without his Furon shield. The backlash from that attack coupled with the strain of executing an advanced sword technique on the fly was too much for him, as Thedon collapsed face first to the ground. The Sailor scouts rushed to his side, fearing the worst had happened. Sailor Moon got to him first, and slowly turned him over so he didn't suffocate.

"Thedon, are you alright? Please say something!" Thedon couldn't do much but grunt in response. The sound of malevolent laughter drew the scout's attention upwards toward a man with long blonde hair and an air of extreme arrogance to his person. The black robes would have presented a more intimidating appearance, if he wasn't covered in scratches and bite marks. He was pointing a black stick at them that they recognized as a wand.

"Carrow is truly pathetic. To think he was sent running by a bunch of weak, muggle children. But no matter, at least my plan was a success." Sailor Moon and Mars were a bit confused by this statement, until a look of realization appeared on Mercury's face.

"Is that all this was, a plan to lure us out? This mindless destruction of nature was nothing more than a ploy?"

"Rather clever for an inferior animal, but only partially correct. After Carrow returned and gave his report, it became apparent that the Ministry needed more of an influence in this pathetic island. All it took was some minor spell work and all this was accomplished. But on to other matters, I'm not as loose-tongued as that fool Carrow. By direct order of the Minister of magic, I'm placing all four of you under arrest for illegal possession and misuse of magic, the penalty for which is immediate incarceration within the magical prison Azkaban. But first, I think a little fun is in order. I'll start by sending that boy to hell with his own sword."

The wizard advanced toward Thedon's downed form, his intentions clearly written on his face. However, he found his way blocked by the Sailor Scouts. Luna, having regained consciousness several minutes ago, also stood between the wizard and Thedon. Although she knew that it was in vain, she tried to talk sense into the spell casting madman.

"Enough of this nonsense, do you have any idea what would happen if you went through with this? Or did Carrow fail to mention the monster he saw while he was here? If something happens to them, this entire universe, your world included, would be in danger of ceasing to exist."

"I will not be talked down by a filthy beast like you, of course Carrow mentioned that monster and how easily it was defeated. Such weak garbage would never pose a threat to us pureblooded wizards. Now stand aside before I have you stuffed and mounted in my home. Whatever happens to these pathetic muggles is none of my concern."

This final statement caused something within the scouts to snap. Although he referred to himself as something else, the fact was that he was still human, and as such the scouts were reluctant to attack him. But having heard his utter disregard for human life caused all hesitancy to drain from their minds.

"MERCURY BUBBLE BLAST!"

"MARS FIRE IGNITE!"

"MOON TIARA MAGIC!"

All three scouts attacked him at once, hoping to put this murderer down before he could do anymore damage. At first, it seemed to work, but as the dust settled, they saw the wizard still standing there, albeit his flowing black robes were torn in various places. He slowly looked up at them, his eyes screaming in unbridled rage and hatred.

"I was going to let you girls live to spread the word about our eventual coming, but now I've changed my mind. You three worthless bitches, that talking cat and your little boyfriend will never see tomorrow. When you get to whatever hell awaits inferiors like you, tell them that Lucius Malfoy sent you." He raised his wand, the utterance of a single spell on the tip of his tongue that would end all their lives, only to once more be interrupted by none other than the Eds, who started chucking rocks at him. Lucius turned to face his latest assailants, only to receive a mid-sized stone on the bridge of his nose, which addled and stunned him.

"Bulls-eye, excellent shot Ed." Double D complimented Ed on his accuracy before loading another stone into a crudely fashioned wrist-rocket slingshot. Eddy and Ed were using an improvised catapult to launch larger rocks, with Ed throwing a few to keep the heat on while they were reloading.

"Hey Lumpy, get a move on will ya? That blonde wizard could get up at any minute!" Eddy shouted as he eyed the downed Lucius nervously, looking for even the slightest twitch to indicate when he would get up and retaliate. Eddy was very apprehensive about doing this, until Double D and Ed reminded Eddy of what they lost back in the Cul-De-Sac. The scouts took this opportunity to move Thedon to safety and confront the Eds. While Sailors Moon and Mercury pulled Thedon to cover, Sailor Mars went towards the Eds to get answers.

"What are you three doing here? Thedon told you to get somewhere safe." Eddy fired back with, "He also said that like it or not, we're a part of whatever it is that's happening here. Besides, we lost our home to his type, so this is payback."

"BOMBARDA!"

The shout of that spell called to groups attention to Lucius, who was now conscious and launching his counter-attack. The Eds turned with looks of shock before Eddy shouted, "SCATTER!" Mars jumped back to the other two scouts while the Eds ran in three different directions. The spell struck the spot where they once were, blasting dirt and rocks in every direction.

Lucius was beyond livid at this point. What he thought would be a quick bit of mayhem was turning into a drawn out battle, with every minute adding more risk of mass exposure before the appropriate time. "That's it. I've had enough of you filthy vermin and your impertinence. I'll kill you all; even if it means destroying this entire pathetic warren you call a city."

While all this was happening, Thedon was having an internal conflict. "Why, why am I so weak? How can I be able to fight monsters, but not a wizard with a god complex? Was all my training, all my suffering of the past 9 years for nothing?" He looked up and found himself in complete darkness save for the spot he occupied. He also became aware that he wasn't alone.

Across from him stood a skinny man in a purple suit complete with top hat, coat-tails, yellow tinted glasses, and a cane. He also had a noticeable gap between his two front teeth.

This was someone Thedon was hoping to never see again. "Why are you here, Warden? Come to gloat about how helpless I am in protecting those I care for?" The man, now identified as the Warden, simply showed a smug grin before replying, "I don't know what you mean, Thedon."

"Cut the Bull-Shit, Warden. I'm not the same eight-year old you tortured for three months in that madhouse you call a jail. Now tell me why you are here before I beat the reason out of you."

"I simply wanted to see how you were coping with the outside world since your release. As I'm sure you are aware, no-one walks out of super jail the same as they went in."

"You don't need to tell me that. I spent the rest of that year in therapy before I could close my eyes without seeing rooms covered in blood and body parts. Now, let me wake up before something bad happens to my friends, not that you would understand the concept with how you act."

"Still the over-optimist even on the low ground, eh? Well, I'm afraid I can't simply let you leave after insulting me like that." Before more could be said, the Warden suddenly found himself suspended against an invisible wall. He looked around frantically, trying to find the source of his restraint. At first he thought it was Thedon, but he looked just as confused. Then another, much older voice spoke up. "Whatever disagreement you two have will have to wait until later."

Out from the surrounding shadows stepped a short, wizened old man with a beak-like nose and beady, birdlike eyes. He wore ceremonial robes of an unknown make and had a feather boa made of black feathers. There was also what looked like a hellish, green ornament hanging from chains surrounding his torso. He turned and slowly started to walk towards Thedon, paying no heed to the indignant shouts of the Warden.

"While I appreciate you restraining that annoyance, might I ask who you are and why you are here?"

"All in due time, young one. I've come here on behalf of a powerful entity that has observed your deeds and is quite impressed with your actions, and has expressed an interest in assisting you. The name I was given upon my birth has long since been forgotten by the annals of time, but most would refer to me as the Crowfather."

The Crowfather took a moment to pause and collect his thoughts. Thedon took this chance to inquire further. "While I'm grateful that a higher power is taking interest in my problems, might I ask who or what this entity is?"

"The entity I speak of is a group of beings known collectively as the Charred Council. They have existed for countless eons and are responsible for maintaining the fragile balance that allows man-kind to prosper." The Crowfather noticed that Thedon looked a little confused, and decided to elaborate.

"Long ago, when humanity was still in its infancy, a great war was being waged between the forces of heaven and hell. For eons, both sides fought a bitter war to a constant stalemate, and began to spread slowly into other worlds like a virus, threatening to destroy worlds before they truly began. Then, one day, as the war was approaching the fringes of the Garden of Eden, the Charred Council finally intervened. They managed to establish a tenuous truce between the combatants, stating that neither side will attack the other or interfere in the development of other worlds. Furthermore, the treaty stated that when humanity was deemed strong enough, seven seals would be broken in sequence to signal the start of one final battle which would decide the victor once and for all. To ensure that both sides would adhere to the terms of the treaty, the Council called upon four members of the warring Nephilim, a race born of the union of demons and angels. The Nephilim were nomadic warmongers, traveling from one world to another destroying or enslaving the original inhabitants. But, there were four members that grew tired of the constant fighting. These four met with the Charred Council, and in exchange for their loyalty and cooperation, were granted untold power. When the Nephilim were upon Eden's doorstep, mere moments after the treaty between heaven and hell was struck, these four stood by the exhausted angels and slew their own brethren to ensure humanity's survival. These four enforcers would later be known by a different name, The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse."

The Crowfather stopped to catch his breath after that long explanation. Thedon took this moment to once more speak up. "That's truly a fascinating story, but what has that got to do with me?"

"The forces of heaven and hell have started to become restless. If they see the earth being invaded by an outside supernatural force like this Negaverse you have been fighting, they might mistake it for a sneak attack by the other side and start the end war too early. By the terms of the treaty, the Council cannot directly intervene on this matter, so they sent me in their stead to find a suitable mortal to ensure that such a scenario didn't happen. I've spent half a millennium searching for such a soul, and you, young mortal, show much promise."

The Crowfather then held out his hand, and within it formed an iridescent, glowing ball of energy. The waves emanating from the mass made look like a hand-held sun.

"The Charred Council entrusted me with this, a small shard of their limitless power. This will awaken the true potential of any who accept it, capable of turning the weakest mortal into a god with proper training. I was to offer it to a worthy soul, who would use it for the right reasons, and as such I offer it to you."

Thedon was certainly intrigued by this. On one hand, this power could give him a much needed edge against both the Negaverse and the wizards. But one the other hand, the use of this power could attract unwanted attention and place his friends and family in more danger. He weighed the options in his head for what felt like hours before he made his decision.

"Crowfather, while I deeply appreciate the Charred Council's concern and offer of aide, I feel it best to decline. If word of such power got out, it might only cause more problems than needed. That and I would not feel comfortable using a power that wasn't earned."

Now Thedon had been expecting a few things, but what came next was not one of them. Several different emotions flashed through the Crow fathers' eyes, and then he smiled and slowly started to laugh. After several minutes of laughing, he finally calmed down enough to explain himself.

"Once again you mortals continue to surprise me. As I previously said, I've spent 500 years searching for a promising soul, and you were not the first. There were many souls who showed promise on the surface, but turned out to be unworthy. All those who came before you accepted without a second thought, and as such proved how shallow they really were. But you, young Thedon, you thought long and hard before making your decision, and ultimately turned my offer down. I've been waiting 500 years to say this: You have passed my test, and as such I bestow upon you the shard of power from the Charred Council."

The light flew from the Crow Fathers hand, stopped, and then engulfed Thedon in its ethereal glow. When the light cleared, Thedon felt amazing power course through his very being. After several minutes, the Crow Father spoke again.

"The Council's power will amplify your already impressive capabilities 10 fold, and will even allow you passive mastery of the other techniques of your fighting style. I would say more, but I think your presence is needed on the outside."

"AVADA KE-Pow!"

Lucious had prepared to cast one the most lethal curses in his arsenal, only to be stopped by a fist to the face. The Eds and the scouts could only stare in amazement at what they saw. Before them stood Thedon, only he was clad in skeleton-like armor and radiating an other-worldly glow. The surrounding foliage seemed to be caught in an endless, accelerated cycle of death and rebirth. The look in his eyes were those of one who bore witness to millions of deaths, embittered by tragedy, but when he looked to the scouts, they saw only kindness, protection, and mercy.

It took Lucius a few minutes to regain his bearings, and upon doing so, saw the boy he had knocked out, only know he looked like death incarnate. Every rational instinct was telling him to get the hell out of there, that he was far, far outmatched, but his pride and anger won out, telling him to make the boy suffer.

"You…you…I'LL KILL YOU! REDUCTO TRES!"

Three beams shot from Lucius's wand, streaking toward Thedon who turned as the spells whistled in the wind. The scouts screamed for him to move, but the spells came to fast. Within the span of several seconds, the spells struck, kicking up a huge cloud of dust in the process. Lucius smiled in triumph, certain that he had taken all of them out. When the dust settled, his smile was replaced by a snarl.

Thedon stood in front of the group, and he seemed to be holding the three spells in the palm of his hand, condensed into an orb. He then proceeded to absorb the spells, his aura growing stronger as the spells grew weaker until there was nothing left. He then raised his eyes at Lucius, and said,

"**Lucius Malfoy, you dare tamper with situations far beyond your level of understanding. As I am now, I could kill you in the blink of an eye, but I won't. Do not mistake this mercy for weakness, for if you or any of your fellow wizards attack us again, I shall not be so lenient. Now leave before I change my mind."**

As much as Lucius hated to admit it, the amount of power this muggle was putting out was far beyond even his former master. So begrudgingly, Lucius decided to retreat, but not before leaving some parting words.

"Fine, you filthy animals may have won this time, but this is far from over. Even now, my master is enacting a plan to bring himself back from the dead, and when he does, you all will rue the day you crossed me."

With that, just like Carrow did, Lucius disappeared in a funnel of smoke. Thedon finally relaxed his stance, reverting back to his normal self and allowing himself to fall. The scouts and the Eds rushed towards him, with Sailor Moon making it first.


	13. Chapter 13

**Alter-cations: Wedding Crashers**

Another day dawns in Juuban, its residents preparing for another day at school or work. Seven of those residents have been up for some time now. "Alright, very well done today everyone. Make sure you keep practicing." After the fight with Lucius and bringing the Eds into the fold, Thedon believed it would be a good idea to train everyone in the Rokushiki fighting style. So far, Raye showed the most promise, having been a martial arts enthusiast from a young age. Amy showed great potential, proving that she was a natural. Serena, however,

"Ugh, why do I have to do this so early?"

Serena was very vocal about her complaints, which were second only to Eddy's. Thedon knew she had what was necessary to excel in this fighting style, but her laziness and daydreaming kept getting in the way. Eddy's complaints seemed to stem from his over-inflated ego and belief that he can just scam his way out of trouble. This showed Thedon that he needed to motivate them somehow.

"Now Serena, you know why it has to be this way. I train myself to the brink of exhaustion, and do you know why?" Serena shook her head. "It's so I can protect you and all the people I care about. If anything happened to you, Amy, or Raye I'd never forgive myself. I know it's difficult, because I also complained when I first started." He could tell that he still had a long way to go before Serena would give it her all, but he at least made some progress.

The morning has passed and now the day is in full swing. We join our heroes in a home economics class, although things were rather slow. The teacher seemed distracted, and as a result a majority of the class started nodding off. Thedon was struggling to stay awake, while Serena was already asleep. Even the ever attentive Edd was drifting in and out of consciousness. Through the bags in his eyes, Thedon could tell she was exhibiting the signs of being love-struck. 'Hmm, interesting. I should have the lemurs keep a close eye on her. She could be the next target.'

It's the afternoon, and Thedon, Serena, and Molly were enjoying some ice-cream. Serena let out a loud yawn before speaking.

"Man, that class was so boring. Didn't you think so too, Molly?" Molly nodded, then they were suddenly interrupted by Melvin. "Hey guys, major gossip alert." Serena and Molly jumped back in surprise, while Thedon looked ready to attack. Upon realizing who it was, Thedon relaxed while the girls shouted in his ears. Once again, Thedon played peacekeeper for all parties involved.

"Melvin, what did we discuss about your sneaking up on people?" Melvin adopted the face of a child being scolded. "Not to do it."

"Very good, now what's this piece of gossip that was so important that you nearly risked your life for?"

"My sources tell me that Ms. Lambert is getting married. That's why she's been so distracted." This caused Serena to set off on a monologue about her own wedding, which ended with her ice cream falling on her head. Thedon only half listened as he was busy preparing a possible combat strategy. 'Hmm, I knew it. Participants in a wedding put a lot of time and energy into such events, the perfect target for the Negaverse.'

Meanwhile in the shopping district, the Eds are walking along, doing their own thing. Ed seemed to be staring into space, lost in his own world. Double D was looking around in fascination at what their new home had to offer. Eddy was doing something similar, albeit for an entirely different reason. As they walked, Ms. Lambert was exiting a bridal gown shop across the street. She stopped and stared longingly into the shop window.

"I'll never be able to afford my dream dress on my teacher salary."

She was brought out of her depressing thoughts by Mrs. Haruna, and the Eds watched as the two teachers conversed. As the two women were leaving, an expensive car pulled up. It stopped, waited a few minutes, and then set off in the same direction as the two teachers. The Eds stared for a minute before Eddy spoke up.

"Alright guys, let's get going before it gets dark. I just got an idea for a scam." Eddy started walking, and then noticed that the other two weren't following him. He turned back and saw Double D struggling to move Ed.

"Yo, Double D, what's wrong with the lump over there?"

"I don't know Eddy; he just stopped moving after that car left." They walked around to his front, and saw a look of utmost determination. Eddy and Double D tried everything to coax a response from him, but nothing worked. Just as they were about to leave, Ed spoke.

"We're following that car." Those were the only words he said before marching off after said car. Eddy and Double D were shocked for a moment, and then set off after him. Ed's march soon turned into a run as the car got further away from them. Eddy and Double D were still confused, but still tried to keep up with him. The car turned a corner, and so did Ed. The other two turned shortly after him, and crashed into his back like a brick wall.

The car he was following had stopped in front of a fabric store. The three Eds watched as both teachers entered the store, and then they saw the driver of the car get out as well. To their shock and horror, the driver was Maxfield Stanton. The incident at the park was still fresh in their minds, so the three knew that his appearance would lead to trouble.

Meanwhile, Serena and Thedon were on their way home from school when they passed what appeared to be a wedding reception. Their attention was drawn by talk of a contest, which led them to a sign advertising a sewing contest for wedding gowns, with a trip to Hawaii as the first prize.

This caused Serena to start day-dreaming about her own wedding and eventual honeymoon. She pictured herself in her own ideal wedding dress, standing in the courtyard of a castle beneath a star-lit night sky, with Thedon dancing with her. Oddly, Amy and Raye were also in attendance in similar wedding dresses, along with two other girls whose features weren't discernible.

Back in the real world, Thedon could only sigh as he used a miniscule amount of mental energy to view Serena's day-dream. He stopped viewing just as Serena came back to reality, and watched as she started pouting. Thedon decided to try and cheer her up.

"There, there, I'm sure you'll find that special someone soon enough. So don't get so pessimistic." He would have continued, but the sound of a familiar voice drew both of their attention. They turned and saw Raye arguing with the chapel owner about him limiting who could enter. The owner cleared up the misunderstanding by saying that as long as they promise to get married in his chapel in the future, anyone who can sew is allowed to enter.

Thedon noted that Raye looked rather pleased with her accomplishment, but decided it would be best for him to head his own way. After all, he needed to make sure that the Eds weren't making pests of themselves to the general public. As if on cue, his cell phone went off, and observed the number, showing the Eds. He sighed and decided it best not to ignore them.

"Hello?"

"Thedon, its Double D. We got a major problem."

"Alright, just calm down. What did the other two do this time?"

"Actually, Ed and Eddy haven't done anything yet."

"Then what is this about? I told you to only call this number if it's an emergency."

"But this is an emergency. It started when we were walking…Ed, what are you doing?" Thedon heard a small scuffle before things went silent.

"Double D, if this is some kind of sick joke, you should know that I'm not amused." It took a few minutes before he got a response, this time from Eddy.

"Sorry about that, big T. Sock-head was taking too long. Listen, long story short, we saw Maxfield Stanton stalking the Home Economics teacher."

Thedon's eyes widened a small fraction upon hearing this. It took him a minute to digest the information before he gave a response.

"Eddy, this had better not be some kind of prank, or else all three of you won't be seeing any sort of candy for the next three months." There was another scuffle on the other end of the line before Edd answered again.

"Eddy's right this time, Thedon. I swear on my life that he's here." It took a few seconds for Thedon to reform his thoughts before he could answer.

"Alright, now things are starting to make sense. Listen closely; I want you three to trail them as discreetly as possible and report to me if anything odd takes place. Keep a close eye on Mrs. Lambert, my gut tells me she might be the victim here. Do you understand?"

"Loud and clear. We'll keep you posted." Edd was about to hang up when he heard Thedon say one more thing.

"Listen, you guys are still new here and as a result are still inexperienced in dealing with this sort of enemy. Do not, I repeat, do NOT attempt to engage Stanton in combat. We are still unsure about his full capabilities, so he could be as strong, if not stronger then Malfoy and we only just managed to survive that encounter. Am I making myself clear?"

"Crystal, sir. Tail the subject and observe, do not engage in open combat."

"Good, now get to it, and keep the other two on a tight leash. Don't let their egos run rampant." Thedon hung up, and then let out a sigh. Lifting his head, he noticed Serena was no longer in front of the poster, and was now confronting Raye. He watched as they exchanged words, after which Raye dragged them off. Thedon could only sweat-drop, then noticed Ms. Lambert in front of the sign.

'That's Ms. Lambert; nothing seems out of place so far. I can only pray that those three don't get themselves in too deep a hole.' He watched Ms. Lambert walk away, and then noticed a familiar expensive car drive by. The driver side window was opened half way, and he briefly made eye contact with the driver, Maxfield Stanton. The staring contest would have continued, had the Eds not collided with him. Stanton simply smirked before driving off.

We now join Thedon back in his room, contemplating the various strategies available at this point in time. He commissioned Kowalski to design more compact versions of his Furon artillery, to reduce the chance of being caught unarmed, at least until his Rokushiki training reached a more advanced level. He continued his morning meditation to increase his proficiency with psychokenesis and Temporal Fist. His only current shortfall was his lack of magic training, but without someone who could teach him, he could do nothing about that.

Deciding not to dwell on it, Thedon closed his eyes and drifted off. He thought a quick nap would help clear his head, but his nap was anything but restful.

(Dream sequence)(Cue Linkin Park-Breaking the Habit)

Destruction, that was all he could see. No matter where he turned, he found ruined buildings and lifeless bodies bearing faces both familiar and foreign. He heard a scream from behind, and spun around to see a horrifying sight. A female warrior clad in pure gold armor grabbed for Serena's chest, then pulled something out. The screams got louder which meant this process was causing her great pain. Thedon wanted to help her, wanted to free her, but his body wouldn't listen. He stood there, frozen in a mixture of rage which soon turned to horror, as the magic which empowered Serena as Sailor Moon began to unravel, and her body began to fade away.

Before she disappeared, she looked over at Thedon with tear filled eyes, and said three simple words that unconsciously longed to hear.

"I love you."

It was at that moment that Thedon's body finally responded, and his dashed towards her with every ounce of desperation he could muster. He was almost there, but she was gone like sand from between his fingers. Tears cascaded down his face in sorrow. Then he looked at the warrior woman, the one that took his beloved princess away, and he could feel only one thing.

Rage.

He shot forward like a bullet from a sniper rifle, and there was a great flash of light as he neared her.

(End Dream)

He was jolted from his sleep, and shot upright so fast he gave himself vertigo, which was pushed aside by the flood of adrenaline brought on from his nightmare. His eyes were wide and his face covered in cold sweat. He took a few deep breaths to calm himself down, and then noticed the Penguin Commandos and the Lemurs gathered around him with looks of concern. He also noticed three other animals, specifically a river otter and two chimps. The otter, named Marlene, had reddish-brown fur along a majority of her back, with white fur on her front. A unique trait of Marlene's was that, since she was born and raised in captivity, she would become feral if left in the wild for any length of time. The Chimps, Phil and Mason, were considered to be more cultured then the other animals. Having been together for years, they worked best as a pair. Phil was unique in that while he was deaf, he could read and understand the human language. Mason acted as Phil's translator, knowing how to read sign language, but unable to comprehend human language.

"Thedon, are you alright?" Marlene asked with her voice full of concern.

"Yeah, I'm alright Marlene. Just a bad dream is all. How long was I asleep?" Kowalski was the next one to speak.

"About two or three hours. We came to give you a status update when we heard whimpers. We came in and saw you thrashing in your sleep. We tried to wake you, but you wouldn't respond. We were afraid we'd need to get your parents."

"Right, no need for that. Thanks for the concern everyone. But back to business, what's the current situation like?" Skipper then proceeded to fill him in.

"Your suspicions of Maxfield Stanton were well founded. The Eds called in to report that Stanton did something to a sheet of cloth before handing it to Ms. Lambert. They also said that there was an odd symbol on the fabric that appeared after Stanton touched it." Skipper paused here to allow the information to sink in.

"Okay, so now we know how he implants the monster in his victims. Was there anything else?" Surprisingly, it was Julien how picked up from there.

"After she purchased the fabric, she immediately rushed home and hasn't left since. She even violently turned away a man with a bouquet of flowers before slamming the door in his face." Thedon thought on this for a minute.

"So I was right. I'll need to find some way to get the girls and myself into that contest." He looked up and saw the Private looked rather anxious to say something.

"Is there something wrong, Private?"

"Well, there is one more thing you should know about. We found a strange parcel sitting outside the front door addressed to you. There wasn't a return address, only a piece of paper attached to it. We ran it through several tests and couldn't find anything suspicious."

He then handed Thedon a simple looking square package with a note attached. He opened the note and proceeded to read it.

'_Dear Thedon Giscard,_

_Although you don't know me, nor have you met me I don't expect you to accept this parcel without question. All you need to know is that I have been tracking your exploits along with the Sailor Scout's, and I believe that I have something that may prove beneficial to your cause. Please note that this particular item doesn't come without a steep price. Within the attached package is a sample of a mutagenic super-virus that alters the afflicted down to the genetic level. Initial tests have shown that what the virus does to the individual depends on how strong their will is. Those with strong wills have exhibited increased strength, speed, endurance, and perception. They've also shown the unique talent of absorbing other living things and altering their DNA to either disguise themselves or adding specific traits to themselves. However, should your will prove weak; it will turn you into a mutated monster with no more intelligence then a rabid animal. It's up to you whether to accept or reject this offer. I trust you will make the right choice._

_A Friend.'_

Having read the note, Thedon then proceeded open the package and found a sealed vial with a thick red and black substance inside. He moved to unseal the vial when he was stopped by Maurice.

"Thedon, are you sure this is a good idea? What if this turns out to be some kind trick?"

"I'm fully aware of the dangers Maurice. But until the time comes when I can reveal my full powers without risk of self-harm, this virus may be the only option I have. Besides, you don't survive three months in a mad-house of a prison at the age of eight by having a weak will."

He opened the vial and watched as the substance shot out and zeroed in on the scar left on his palm by the Philosopher's Stone. When it was completely gone, his vision faded in and out of focus before losing consciousness. He woke up a few hours later, not feeling any different than normal.

Meanwhile, Ms. Lambert was working furiously on her dream dress, aided by the evil magic of the seal placed by Nephrite. She worked her fingers to the bone until finally, she was finished. The seal, sensing that its purpose was drawing to a close, magnified in power, draining more energy from the crazed teacher, which caused her to pass out until the time of the contest.

The contest was only minutes from starting, as we find the Sailor scouts standing in front of the contest building. Serena had her fingers covered in bandages from trying to sew her own dress, and failing. Raye was looking rather smug at Serena's failure, despite the fact that she didn't have a dress either. Amy and Luna were of course, focused on the upcoming battle. Luna however was also worried about Thedon, especially after what the penguins told her.

'I hope Thedon's alright. I don't want to admit it, but it seems that his presence is keeping this group together. He's already contributed so much for our sake without asking for anything in return.'

Just as she finished her thoughts, she saw Thedon running towards them at an incredible speed. He came to a skidding stop just before crashing into a street sign. He took a moment to regain his thoughts before noticing the scout's staring at him in surprise. Thedon simply smiled and rubbed his head.

"Sorry I'm late, I was help an elderly woman home when a black cat crossed our path, so we had to take a longer route around the cat. Anyway, what's the status of the situation?" He just got a blank stare from everyone before Amy spoke up.

"Well, Serena stabbed herself several times trying to sew, Raye got yelled at by her Grandpa, and it's highly likely that the Negaverse has infected Ms. Lambert." Thedon could only chuckle at Amy's joke.

"Heh, good one Amy. Nice to see you coming out of that shell of yours. Anyhow, do we have a plan to get in, or should I just exercise my authority and make them let us in?" Serena and Raye seemed more than happy to agree to Thedon's suggestion, but Luna thought otherwise.

"No, as much as I hate saying this, your status may be more of a hindrance in this situation. The son of a rich and powerful family suddenly showing up with an entourage is bound to attract too much attention. I think the best course of action is the have Serena enter as a contestant." Serena looked a bit shocked and confused at this, since she didn't have a dress. That is, until Raye reminded her of the Luna Pen. In flash of light, Serena was wearing a wedding dress that seemed to suit her very well.

Serena was now standing among the row of contestants, keeping an eye out for Ms. Lambert. Raye and Amy were searching in the crowd, while Thedon stood by the announcer as a special guest judge. Although he looked relaxed to everyone else, he was as tense as a coiled spring ready to snap into action, which he knew would be soon. A constant chill seemed to run down his spine at certain intervals like a metal detector, with the intervals getting shorter and shorter. His hands were kept close to his Furon artillery, which were compressed and hidden in his coat pockets. Also concealed beneath his coat was his sword, just in case he was disarmed.

"Hello everyone and welcome to the Juuban wedding dress competition!" The announcer started off strong with a lot of enthusiasm.

"Let's give a nice round of applause for the many lovely contestants before us today, and an extra round of applause for a special surprise guest. He's the heir of not one, but two highly successful businesses both worth over billions of dollars, and a rising star in his own right. Give it up for Thedon Giscard!"

The spotlight panned across the line of women before settling on Thedon, which got him applause from both the crowd and contestants. Thedon simply waved and took a few bows to satisfy the audience.

"And now I'd like to introduce our guest Hostess, Zoey Sublime!"

The curtain pulled back to reveal a woman who turned out to be Ms. Lambert, only she had this crazed look in her eyes. The host ran over to investigate, only to fall in love with Ms. Lambert immediately. Thedon snarled and tensed up as he saw her eyes flash red, knowing what would come next. After violently telling off the host, she turned her attention to the audience and let out a crazed laugh. A crest appeared on the front of her dress, glowing an angry bright red. Soon after, both the audience and the contestants started to pass out. Thedon wisely averted his gaze by watching Serena, who looked ready to pass out until Luna snapped her out of it. Seeing that everyone in the crowd was knocked out, Thedon drew his Zap-O-Matic.

It was at that moment that Nephrite decided to strike, as he gave the order for his monster, Widow, to make an appearance. A yellow, smoke-like substance emerged from Ms. Lambert, eventually forming into a humanoid female with red skin, pincer-like claws, four large spider legs, and a spiders abdomen with a black widows markings.

The monster stood before Serena, focusing its attention on her allowing Thedon to bum rush in and knock the monster aside. Thedon then set the damage output to its highest level and fired. The shock paralyzed Widow long enough for Thedon to turn towards Serena and the scouts who were descending via a stage prop.

"You girls stand back for a few minutes and let me handle this. I can't let you have all the fun." Thedon flashed a smile before turning back to Widow. The monster staggered to her feet, laying eyes on the human who had attacked her.

"You think you can stand against me, you puny human? I am a monster of the Negaverse, superior to you in every way."

"I don't think, but I know I can stand against you. I've fought others of your kind before, and I'm still standing here in one piece. Now come on, show what you can do and try to make it interesting. There's nothing I hate more than a boring opponent."

That last remark must have hit a nerve, because Widow rushed at Thedon determined to take his head off. She got in close and swung at his head, only for Thedon to bend backwards causing her to miss. Using his momentum, one of his feet shot up and nailed her in the stomach. He followed that up with a hand stand and a flurry of spinning kicks which left her dazed. He up-righted himself then proceeded to grab one of the spider legs. He lifted her up and slammed her down several times before planting his foot at the base of the joint and pulling hard. The sensation caused Widow to regain focus, and she started thrashing at his exposed leg.

The scouts watched from the sidelines in astonishment as Thedon proceeded to lay the smack down on the monster, showing great flexibility and reaction time. They were further amazed when he managed to lift the monster by one of its appendages before slamming it down repeatedly. Then they watched as he attempted to pull one of the limbs off, leaving his leg exposed. The monster noticed, and started lashing out, leaving many deep gashes in its wake. Despite this, Thedon continued to pull, and the girls were shocked even more when the gashes were healed before their eyes by a red and black substance.

Thedon pulled with all his strength, ignoring the pain as his leg was attacked. He felt a strange tingling sensation and spared a glance to see what it was. He watched as a substance resembling the virus filled in his wounds and disappeared, leaving only unmarked skin. He put that aside and continued to pull, his ears ringing with Widows cries of pain until with one last heave, he pulled the entire leg off.

Widow screamed in equal parts pain and horror. Here was this inferior human not only subduing her, but literally pulling her apart. She then watched as the human proceeded to use the leg as a golf club.

"FORE!"

Thedon launched Widow backstage, and then looked at the disembodied leg. Three tendrils shot from his back, latching onto the limb before absorbing it into his genetic code. He winced in pain as he felt a new organ growing on the roof of his mouth. He also watched as his fingers were coated in a black, shell-like substance, turning them into sharp claws.

Deciding to test out his new hardware, Thedon focused on the new organ and spat out a glob of white substance that was extremely sticky. He then watched as it dried out and crumbled to dust a few seconds later. Satisfied with his work, he turned back to the dumb-founded Sailor scouts.

"Alright, I've had my fun. She's all yours."

His declaration snapped them out of their stupor, and they proceeded to transform.

"MOON PRISM POWER!"

"MERCURY POWER!"

"MARS POWER!"

Widow soon emerged from backstage, the stump where her leg used to be flailing about.

"You wretched human, how dare you do this to me. Once I trap you in my web I'll take great pleasure in hearing your screams of pain as I suck you dry." She shot a thick strand of webbing from her mouth intent on capturing Thedon, only for him to be pushed aside by Sailor Moon, getting herself trapped instead. Although it wasn't her intended target, Widow still looked pleased.

Thedon snarled and withdrew his Destructo-Ray, aiming it at the strand of web. Sailor Mars and Mercury, sensing his intentions, also sprang into action. Sailor Mercury started with her attack.

"MERCURY BUBBLE BLAST!"

The freezing mist that followed cast Widow into confusion, distraction her and allowing Sailor Mars to assist Thedon in destroying the webbing.

"MARS FIRE IGNITE!"

Thedon pulled the trigger three times, and the result was that the explosions combined with the fireball burn the silk away. While Mars and Mercury calmed Sailor Moon down, Thedon made use of his own webbing by trapping Widows legs, immobilizing her. Sailor Moon looked over at Thedon, who nodded, signaling her to finish it.

"MOON TIARA MAGIC!"

Widow tried to counter with more webbing, but the magical disk of light burned through it, thus hitting Widow and vaporizing her. When she was completely gone, the group of four decided to make themselves scarce to avoid any unwanted attention. Thedon ushered the sailor scouts out first, electing to stay behind with Luna in case there were any witnesses. Thedon heard a groan and turn to see Ms. Lambert regaining consciousness, minus the crazy look in her eye. She was groggy and unfocused, so Thedon and Luna decided to leave before they were noticed.

A few days later we find Thedon, Serena, Amy, Raye, Luna, even the Eds gathered together along with many other people in front of a modest church. A wedding was being held today, specifically Ms. Lambert's wedding. Having mended her relationship with her fiancée, they scheduled their wedding in enough time to allow friends and family to arrive. Thedon was attending as a guest of honor, having informed Ms. Lambert that she was the contest winner, and thus won a two week honeymoon vacation in Hawaii for both her and her fiancée. But despite this joyous occasion, not everyone was happy.

"That prize should have been mine. Way to ruin a girls' dreams Thedon." Serena punctuated this by sticking her tongue out at him. Serena may have understood why he awarded the trip to Ms. Lambert instead of her, but that didn't mean she was happy about it. Thedon could only chuckle at Serena's childish antics.

"Serena, will you please just let it go? Besides, isn't it a little early to start planning a honeymoon without first having the wedding, or even meeting the right guy? We've still got our whole lives ahead of us, and we're only young once, so don't get so eager to enter adulthood." Serena seemed to understand, although she was still grumpy. Amy was looking at him in admiration, having been moved by his words. Raye seemed to agree whole-heartedly, and was practically draping herself around Thedon.

A commotion caught their attention. The bride was just about to toss the bouquet. Like piranhas who smelled blood, Serena, Raye, and surprisingly, Ms. Haruna all jostled for the best spot to catch the bundle of flowers. The flowers stayed just out of their reach before flying toward Amy and Thedon. Thedon managed to catch them and being the gentleman, gave them to Amy with a smile that caused her to blush.


End file.
